


Touch

by PrinceSnoozy



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: AKA I'm using the armiger like hammerspace, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Break Up, But also compliant where it matters, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Choking, Dream Shenanigans, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Gaslighting, Hallucinations, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Slow Burn, Starts in Brotherhood and goes headlong into the main game, These Two Are Hopeless, Touch-Starved, [inserts my headcanons to fill lore gaps], accidental sads, background F/F and F/M relationships, eating disorder mention, game mechanics, hugs between bros, sad cuddles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-25 00:41:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 84,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13822860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSnoozy/pseuds/PrinceSnoozy
Summary: Noct is touchstarved and doesn't know it.Then everything just gets worse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno, I was in the Night Sky discord server and we were talking about hugs and a couple members suggested something like this and I got an idea and ran with it.

It hadn't crossed his mind, not really. Gladio never gave him much more than a hard slap on the back. Ignis would shake his hand occasionally, or maybe touch his forehead if he was feeling under the weather. His father rarely so much as touched his shoulder anymore, though it wasn't like he went out of his way to see him these days. And Prompto, well, Prompto was more into fist bumps and the like.

Or, at least, that's how it seemed.

Noctis sat reclined on his sectional, playing King's Knight on his phone while today's homework lay spread out and untouched on the coffee table. Prompto was on his stomach near Noctis's feet, also playing King's Knight, his school uniform down to his white t-shirt and pants after complaining of it being too stuffy and whining about his tie choking him "to the brink of death." It wasn't exactly cold in Noctis's apartment, not today, so he'd done the same shedding of an unnecessary blazer and tie, both sets strewn on the floor not far from the couch. 

Getting bored of the game, Noctis put his phone aside with a weary sigh, rolling a bit to sit properly on the sofa. He leaned forward a bit with both arms resting on his thighs, staring at the untouched homework inches away. His eyes wouldn't focus on the papers, however, and instead found other images floating in his vision. Ignis trying (and failing) to recreate the Tenebrae pastries (again). Gladio chastising him for skipping out on combat practice (again). Arguing with Ignis over who-knows-what. His father--

"What's up?"

Noctis started at the voice, whipping his head around to look towards Prompto, who had let his phone rest on the sofa between his hands after turning his attention on Noctis, whose face had flushed. Noct turned his crimson face away, combing his fingers through his bangs as if he were trying to hide. He shrugged slightly, only making a small grunt of acknowledgment. But Prompto didn't stop staring at him.

"Just tired," Noct muttered with a sigh, almost collapsing onto his arms resting against his legs. 

"Another fight with Iggy?" Prompto asked, caution in his voice. He sat up so he was side-by-side with him, his phone left behind on the sofa.

"No," Noctis replied quickly, then sighed. "Well, I mean, yes, but no..." He bit his lip, searching for the words, but only finding a jumbled mess of incoherent ideas. "I dunno."

Prompto stared at him for a few long moments, his face flat. Noctis didn't return the stare, choosing instead to stare at the rug under his own socked feet. Moments passed between them in silence, broken only by their quiet breathing. Soon, though, a smile spread across Prompto's face.

"It's okay, dude," he said lightly, bumping Noctis's arm with his elbow before hopping to his feet. "I'm thirsty, you want anything?"

Noctis stayed silent, at least for the moment, the brief warmth from Prompto's arm lingering far longer than it probably should have. He looked up at his friend, his freckled face lit up with his characteristic smile, and, in turn, he couldn't stop the slight smile that tugged at his lips.

"Sure, there should be soda in there," he replied, leaning back into the couch with a groan while his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes sliding closed.

Too little time passed before Noctis felt something cold and wet and metallic on his cheek, and he jumped slightly, his arms up defensively at the icy assailant. He was met with a sunshine smile and a delighted laugh.

"Sorry, dude," Prompto said, the laugh still in his voice. He offered the can of soda that had previously been assaulting Noctis's face. "You really are tired if you could doze off that fast."

"I wasn't dozing off," Noctis muttered, annoyed, as he took the can from Prompto.

"Sure you weren't," Prompto laughed, settling back onto the couch by Noctis again, a metallic _pop_ as he opened his soda. He looked to the schoolwork spread out on the table. "We should probably start on this before Iggy yells at us again."

"Do we have to..." Noctis groaned, setting his drink down on one of the few bare spots on the coffee table. "He'll just interrupt it with another report. It's like it never ends."

"Life of a prince, dude," Prompto quipped, taking a swig of his soda. 

"I didn't ask for it."

Prompto paused, his can at his mouth. He looked at him with a look that Noctis couldn't identify when he dared to take a peek out of the corner of his eye. He looked away soon after, anyway, choosing instead to distract himself with a sip of soda.

"Didn't say you did," Prompto said finally, though quieter than usual. He slung his arm over Noct's shoulder, gently bumping their heads together in the process. "What's eatin' ya, buddy?"

Noctis froze, his shoulders stiffening under the sudden weight while his drink remained near his mouth. He put his soda down, but his movements were mechanical and his hand shook slightly. His mouth twisted as he bit the inside of his cheek, suddenly torn between the need to get very far away, but also to not move at all.

"Noct?" Prompto breathed, putting his own drink down so he could use his other hand to poke the side of Noct's head.

"S-Sorry," Noctis stammered, knocking Prompto's hand away from his face. "I..." He glanced at Prompto once, then turned away again. "I think something's wrong with me."

"Well, yeah, dude! You're a huge nerd!"

Noctis didn't reply, not even with the routine "so are you" that they were accustomed to. No, instead he just sighed and leaned toward warmth, finding his face buried in Prompto's neck, fluffy blond hair tickling his face. He felt Prompto start to draw away almost immediately, and, as if on their own, his hands latched onto Prompto's shirt, his face burying itself more into his friend's shoulder and neck.

"Y-You okay, dude?" Prompto asked, trying (and failing) to hide his nervousness under a sunny tone. His hands landed on Noctis's shoulders nonetheless, and he let their heads lean together.

"Don't--" Noct tried to respond, but his voice cracked, and he wrapped his arms around Prompto's middle, pulling him closer and _squeezing_ , as if he would disappear if he let go.

"Noct?" Prompto tried to move his head around to see Noct's face, but Noct just squeezed tighter. He hugged tighter in return, leaning his face into dark hair, seemingly unsure if this was allowed but also not wanting to reject him. 

Noctis swallowed around the lump in his throat, squeezing his eyes shut against the threat of tears. He nuzzled down into Prompto's shoulder, his fingers digging into the back of his friend's dress shirt as he fought the urge to cry. It was as if all his pent up emotions spilled forth at once, and it just made him hold onto Prompto tighter, as if letting go would make him fall apart.

"Don't move," he finally choked out, his voice sounding strained to his own ears. "Just... don't let go."

Prompto blinked, a sad smile crossing his face for a moment. He pulled Noct in even tighter, resting his temple fully against Noct's hair. 

"Okay, I won't," he reassured softly, one hand shifting up to hold Noct's head against his shoulder.

They remained locked into that tight embrace, Noct muffling sobs into Prompto's collar and Prompto pretending not to notice. They didn't separate until the characteristic sound of a key through a lock announced Ignis's routine arrival, Noctis with his eyes turned away and Prompto smiling to Ignis as he entered the room, his freckled face dusted over with crimson.

Ignis said nothing of note to either of them, and simply went about his business in the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis's struggle with touchstarvation continues, this time spreading out beyond Prompto

At school the next day, Noctis wouldn't have been able to look Prompto in the eye even had he been conscious. As soon as their first class started, his head slumped forward onto his desk, cushioned only by his crossed arms resting on his desk. He awoke once for a quiz, then again for lunch, then once more when the last bell of the day rang him awake. He stumbled out of the classroom in a haze, his tie crooked and hair disheveled much more than normal.  
  
He made his way blearily toward the direction he thought the entrance to the school was, and barely registered a voice calling out behind him. He continued his groggy walk forward, only coming to attention when a hand landed lightly on his shoulder, sending a jolt through him.  
  
"Didn't get much sleep last night?" the voice said beside him, the hand pulling away before its lingering touch could soothe the jarring surprise it had inflicted.  
  
"Huh?" Noct let out on a weary groan, turning his head as quickly as fatigue would allow to see Prompto smiling back at him. He averted his eyes, thinking slowly for an excuse to turn away.  
  
"Dude?" Prompto asked, a nervous laugh interrupting the word. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm... yeah," Noctis replied on a mumble, pulling his phone from his pocket and unlocking it. Anything to avoid pining for Prompto to put his hand back on his shoulder.  
  
"You're 'yeah'?" Prompto chuckled, giving Noct a soft two-brief slap to his back. "C'mon, dude, let's hit the arcade. We can play Justice Monsters~!"  
  
"I can't." Noctis stared at his unlocked phone, a shadow cast over his face.  
  
"You're saying no to Justice Monsters?!" Prompto exclaimed over-dramatically, throwing a hand over his mouth. "What are you, sick?!"  
  
"No," he replied with a groan, locking his phone and letting out an exasperated sigh. "Ignis must've synced my phone with his calendar. I have training with Gladio today."  
  
_Bad day for that..._  
  
"That why you left class in such a rush?"  
  
Noct stole a look at Prompto's face. His eyes widened slightly as he beheld a barely-concealed look of worry behind blue eyes, eyes which averted themselves seconds after he met them.  
  
"Uh... yeah," Noctis lied, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "I wanted to get there early so we could have time to game later."  
  
Prompto's ears seemed to perk up at the suggestion, happy puppy eyes meeting his own once again.  
  
"Y-Yeah, dude, we can meet up later," Prompto said cheerfully, turning away with a wave. "I got this homework to take care of anyway, I'm way behind. Text me when you're done!"  
  
As he jogged off, Prompto said something else in his direction, but Noctis didn't have a clue what it was. His only focus was on the cheerful smile Prompto left him with, and the residual feeling of a hand on his shoulder that left far too soon.

* * *

The training room ceiling was a familiar sight during the last hour, with Gladiolus felling him time and time again. He'd block one side, forget to parry, and then down he went, each time forgetting and then resenting just how fast Gladio was despite his stature. A hand wrapped around his arm and pulled him to his feet, the tingling of healing magic accentuating the blue glow of its aftermath as it passed through him. Something remained once the tingling passed, the lingering touch of warmth against his bare skin.  
  
"That all you got, Noct?" Gladio asked, his usually-teasing tone overshadowed by what sounded like concern.  
  
"I think I need a break," Noct mumbled in response, rubbing at his temples as he shielded his eyes from the two-bright lights in the training center.  
  
Gladio turned to face him, arms crossed over his bulky chest.  
  
"We still got an hour left and you're already calling it quits?" he asked, sounding irritated. "You getting sick?"  
  
"No," Noct replied, his tone long and drawn out. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"  
  
"You're pale, you're not as light on your feet as usual, your reflexes are slow, and you look so tired it's like you haven't slept in days." A large hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched.  
  
"I'm always pale and tired, though," he muttered back, rolling his shoulder and stepping out of Gladio's grasp, but was left with an emptiness. He stared at the still-outstretched hand with a longing he couldn't make sense of, heat rising in his cheeks.  
  
"Hm..." Gladio hummed, stepping forward and pressing a practiced hand against Noct's forehead, sliding under his bangs.  
  
Noct unwillingly leaned into the touch, his head feeling faint as everything around him became that feeling of a hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes, his body absorbing the warmth, but much too quickly, and before he knew it he felt too hot and flushed, both resisting the feeling and wanting more of it. But, all too soon again, Gladio pulled his hand away, and Noctis opened his eyes to stare into Gladio's face.  
  
"Don't look at me like that," Gladio huffed, turning away slightly.  
  
"Looking at you like what?" Noct asked, his voice feeling heavy in his own throat.  
  
"Looking like I never do anything like that. Iris gets sick sometimes, y'know."  
  
Noctis didn't respond, choosing instead to focus on the floor in front of his own feet.  
  
"You do feel kind of warm though," he continued, walking to the edge of the training arena to where he left his phone on the bench. "We can call it a day if you're not feeling up to it, I'll call Iggy and make sure he gets you home."  
  
"I-I kind of have plans after this," Noctis replied, Prompto's shining smile flashing into his mind for a moment, leaving an afterimage. He didn't realize he'd followed Gladio to the bench until he looked up and found his vision full of behemoth.  
  
"Cancel 'em."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Noct," Gladio turned and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I can't protect you from getting sick, but I can at least protect you from yourself."  
  
Once again, Noctis fell short of a response. He stared at Gladio's hand through the corner of his eye, breathing in sharply through his nose, both longing for the comfort and wanting it gone. All too soon, once again, Gladio stepped away and slid past him, unlocking his phone with a click and navigating through it, the phone's touch sounds tapping away at the edge of Noct's senses. He found himself staring at tattooed feathers, something that felt like a deep sadness washing over him.  
  
"Iggy?" Gladio said suddenly, Noct averting his attention to the phone at Gladio's ear. "Yeah, Noct needs to go home early. No, no, he's fine, just might be a little under the weather. ...will do... yeah... yeah..." He paused, the muffled sound of Ignis's voice on the other end not yielding. "I know, I know. Kay, bye."  
  
He sighed, then turned back to Noct, who found himself staring at those tattoos again, feeling a longing for them.  
  
"You paying attention?" Gladio asked, an annoyed growl in his tone.  
  
"Huh?" Noctis replied, his head hazy.  
  
"Iggy's gonna meet you in the hallway. Didn't think you should walk all the way to the garage with a fever."  
  
"I don't have a fever," he insisted wearily, despite his light-headedness.  
  
"Save it. We'll pick this up in a few days."

* * *

The trip between the training center and the car was a blur, as was the trip to his apartment. He only came to the realization that he'd reached home when his tired body collapsed onto the couch cushions, Ignis's worried stare locked onto him from above.  
  
"Have you been listening?" Ignis asked, the nagging lilt Noctis expected absent from his tone.  
  
Noctis made a noise that was supposed to be some kind of retort, but all that came out was a low groan of fatigue.  
  
"I'm going to fetch the rest of the ingredients for your soup, and you will eat all of it, including the vegetables, so as to rebuild your strength. We will hold off on the reports for now, and-- _are you listening_?"  
  
Noct looked up from his phone, his messaging app open to colors of red and grey, Prompto's name emblazoned at the top.  
  
"Yeah, you're trying to feed me poison soup," he replied, trying to look anywhere but Ignis's crossed arms.  
  
"Well at least your stubbornness hasn't suffered." Ignis adjusted his glasses for a moment, then set his gaze back on Noct's. "I do suggest you skip your 'studying' with Prompto this evening."  
  
Noctis groaned, knowing that would be both enough and not enough to get his point across.  
  
"Noct, you mustn't lose track of time and stay up too late whilst ill, something that happens far too often when you two spend time here."  
  
"I know, I know."  
  
"Now I'm off to the shop. Do try to rest in the meantime."  
  
The door clicked shut a few minutes later, Noctis staring down at his phone. He started typing.  
  
_> hey change of plans._  
  
His phone dinged almost immediately.  
  
_> sup?_  
  
_ >cant hang out tonight. Specs doesn't want me going out_  
  
_ >y not? D:_  
  
_ >idk he thinks im sick or something._  
  
_ >are u sick?_  
  
Noct thought for a moment, his thumbs hovering over the keyboard. He worried at his lip.  
  
_> idk_  
  
_ >idk?_  
  
_ >I do feel kinda _  
_ >off_  
  
_ >>>Prompto is typing..._  
  
Noctis thought for a moment, staring at his screen. Prompto's smile as they parted earlier flashed into his mind again, as did the memory of their hug the day before. That longing nagged at him again, stronger than it had been with Gladio and even with Ignis. He felt dizzy, an ache forming in his chest and spreading over his skin.  
  
His phone dinged and he looked down again.  
  
_ >its ok dude we can jus hang out tomorrow_  
  
Noctis's heart sank.  
  
_> wait_  
_ >u should come over tonight_  
  
_ >?_  
  
_ >like_  
_ >stay here tonight_  
_ >like a sleepover_  
  
_ >like a sleepover?_  
_ >oh_  
_ >u sure?_  
  
_ >yea_  
  
He typed "please" into the text box, but then immediately erased it, instead watching the screen warily for a response. Nothing appeared for what seemed like a long time, as if he'd stunned Prompto into silence. He sighed and tossed his phone on the couch, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. He let his eyes slide closed, regret nagging at his very empty stomach.  
  
He jolted awake from his micro-nap as his phone dinged again.  
  
_> if you really want me to i guess i could drop by_  
  
Noct smiled, relieved.  
  
_> thanks, ill text you when hes gone_

* * *

Noct didn't hear the front door open, not while he was surrounded by a cocoon of blankets and a duvet, snoozing heavily into his pillow. He also didn't hear Prompto calling out to him in the living room and the subsequent knocking on his open bedroom door. What he did hear, however, was Prompto's soft utterance of his name near his ear as he leaned over his napping form.  
  
He looked up at Prompto, blinking the blurry haze of the nap from his eyes, focusing first on freckles, then on the blue eyes that stared at him with an air of concern. He let a sleepy whine through his throat, fighting the blankets to free his arms, one blanket seeming to want to hold him hostage as he struggled against it.  
  
"Noct, buddy, chill out," Prompto laughed, reaching down and pulling the folds of blankets away from Noctis. "Are you trying to be a burrito, dude?"  
  
"Maybe," Noct pouted, shivering as he got free of the blankets, spreading them out with his hands in a futile attempt to make the bed while he was still in it. He adjusted his placement on the bed, moving so that there was a body width between himself and the edge of the mattress. "I feel like one, it's hot."  
  
Prompto laughed nervously, and Noctis glanced at him to see him fidgeting and shuffling around.  
  
"Where's your bag?" Noct asked, surveying the messy state of his room for anything that didn't belong to him.  
  
"I left it by the couch, where I'm sleeping?"  
  
"Sleep here."  
  
"You mean on the floor?"  
  
"No." Noctis patted the space that he'd made beside him. " _Here_."  
  
Prompto stared at the spot for a moment, and a split-second expression of what could've been horror flashed across his face. His hand immediately shot up to cover his face, turning even more so that Noctis couldn't see any sign of his expression. Noctis cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward a bit.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, the cold chill of rejection building in his spine and chest.  
  
"Dude you really are sick," Prompto laughed, the same laugh he used to hide his anxiety; Noct knew it by now. "That bed's not even big enough for two people, we'd have to spoon or something just to both fit, and that's way too close- not like I don't like being close, you'll probably just- I don't wanna get sick, yknow? It'll mess up my jogging routine in the morning, and my immune system isn't exactly the best right now, and-"  
  
"Prompto," Noctis groaned, closing his eyes against a nagging headache. "It's ok, it was a stupid idea anyway, so forget I said anything."  
  
The bed shifted after a moment, and Noctis looked over to see Prompto sitting on the edge of the bed within arm's length of him. That longing pulled at his chest again, but he sat frozen in place, unable to move.  
  
"It's not stupid," Prompto sighed, looking up toward the ceiling. "I get lonely at night, too, but..." His voice trailed off, and he continued without finishing the thought. "I'm here now, though, so what do you need from me?"  
  
Noct's voice caught in his throat, and his body moved on its own. He reached out and practically fell toward Prompto, catching himself on his shoulders just as he heard him yelp in surprise. He tightened his grip and slid his arms around to Prompto's back, clutching at his shirt, the silky fabric different than the stiff cotton he wore yesterday. He had just managed to bury his face in a warm shoulder when fingers caressed his arm, then ran through his disheveled hair, hands landing on his shoulders. Prompto pushed foward, separating himself from the close contact with widened eyes. Noctis whined in protest, keeping his hands on Prompto's shoulders.  
  
"Dude you're really hot!" Prompto said a bit too quickly, looking into Noct's eyes with crimson dusting his face. "I-I mean you're really warm, like fever-warm, not- you know-"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Noct asked, irritated, trying and failing to pull himself back into the embrace he'd pretty much thrown himself into.  
  
"No-oct!" Prompto squeaked, squirming out of Noctis's grip and stumbling to his feet, his face still flushed. He laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. "S-Sorry, I was just-- I really don't wanna get sick, so..."  
  
He met Noctis's face again, and something in his expression darkened briefly. His eyes darted down a moment, then he turned almost entirely away from Noct, running his hands through his hair. After a few moments of uncharacteristic silence, he peeked over his shoulder at Noctis, who never stopped staring at him, and grinned.  
  
"Look," he said, putting his hands out to the side, as if pleading, as he made his way to the door. "I'll go get the futon and I'll sleep in here on the floor, then you won't be alone _and_ I won't have your germs all over me, okay?"  
  
Noctis nodded, that weary haze coming over him again. He ran a hand through his own hair, then down his face, fingers running across something wet. He pulled his hand away immediately, staring down in befuddlement at what must have been tears staining his fingers. He wiped at his face hurriedly, his own face flushing much like Prompto's had, confusion coming over him as the source of those tears eluded him.  
  
"You good?" Prompto asked, hovering in the doorway.  
  
"Yeah," Noctis replied, his voice broken. "Futon, yeah, get that. It's fine."  
  
"Okay," Prompto said quickly, disappearing into the hallway.  
  
He returned not long after with his bag and the rolled up futon, a pillow and blanket slung over his shoulder. He nudged some Noctis debris out of his way, threw down the futon, and settled in with his back to Noctis without so much as changing out of his clothes.  
  
"Night, Noct," he said over his shoulder, shifting around as he curled up a bit into the futon.  
  
"N-Night," Noctis replied shakily, settling into his own blankets.  
  
He found himself curling around one of the spare pillows he kept on his bed, hugging it close to his chest as he started to drift off to sleep. He gripped it tight, nuzzling his face into it, and finding he was wishing the pillow was Prompto instead of just a pillow.  
  
_Maybe I really am getting sick..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this one, I finally got an outline worked out for this fic, and I finally got motivation to write it, too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread yet, enjoy the raw

Noctis awoke with a soft hum, opening sleep-blurred eyes to his ceiling, a warm glow over it from the morning light filtering through the window. He sat up with a long groan, blinking and rubbing at his eyes. He ran his free hand over the back of his neck and rubbed at the sore muscles, indicative of a restless sleep. He grunted in disgust, pulling his hand away as his fingers brushed through the hair at his nape, slick with sweat.  
  
"Ew," he breathed, turning slightly to feel at his pillow, finding it cold and minutely damp.  
  
_Fever must've broke...?_  
  
With another small snarl of disgust, he flopped onto his side, facing his room instead of the wall. His gaze landed on the futon that lay an arm's length away from his bed, the sole blanket disheveled and crumpled at one corner, the pillow half on the futon and half on the floor at an opposite corner.  
  
"Prom...?" Noctis whispered, his eyes widening. He sat up abruptly, eyes darting around the room. "Prompto?!"  
  
His shoulders sagged, and he plopped down onto his side again, pulling his knees in close to his chest and burying his face as far into him as he could manage.  
  
Alone.

* * *

"I should be rather cross with you two."  
  
Ignis stood over the stove in his striped apron, eggs and bacon crackling in a skillet as he gave Prompto a stare through narrowed eyes, his lips tight. Prompto leaned on his arms as they rested against the kitchen table, shifting his weight uncomfortably in the chair.  
  
"Nothing to say for yourself?" Ignis asked gently, the tone a mere shadow of the curt tone Prompto expected.  
  
"I couldn't leave him," Prompto replied quietly, looking up to meet Ignis's gaze. "I didn't wanna be rude."  
  
"Manners have nothing to do with outright defying my instructions," Ignis said, flipping the sizzling bacon with a pair of tongs. "However, it is a day off, and..."  
  
Prompto perked up a bit, the cold that ran through his veins upon finding Ignis fuming in the kitchen over his presence giving way to the warmth of hope.  
  
"Seeing as you're alert and present at this hour, I'd assume you two didn't have such a late night?" Ignis raised an eyebrow somewhat knowingly, holding Prompto with a gaze he couldn't quite place, but definitely didn't like.  
  
"Look, Iggy, I dunno what you're getting at," Prompto replied, his tone rushed and shaking, eyes averted elsewhere. "I came over and he was already pretty out of it, I guess from the fever or whatever, and I went to bed like five minutes after that and was _out_."  
  
Ignis's other eyebrow raised, this time giving way to surprise. His eyes flicked over to somewhere behind Prompto, then back to Prompto, then to the breakfast he had been fussing over for the entire conversation. He transferred the eggs and bacon to three plates, plus some toast, then brought the three plates over to the table, placing them in their proper places before the chairs.  
  
"Then I apologize, Prompto, for my concerns were unwarranted."  
  
"Concerns? What concerns?"  
  
Ignis didn't respond, but simply walked over to the pantry and pulled off his apron, replacing it on its hook within the door. Prompto stared at Ignis for a few more moments, then shook his head, setting his attention on the breakfast that, granted, probably wasn't all that good for him, but it wasn't like he couldn't run off the extra calories later, right?  
  
He'd just gotten a mouthful of bacon when his attention was stolen by the distant sound of a flushing toilet, and he turned in his chair just to see the zombie of the Crown Prince shuffle out into the main room, his hair ruffled in a way that just wasn't fair and his sleepy face stealing all of his attention away from his food and what that food could do to him because it was _so cute_ -  
  
Prompto shook off the thought, and instead flashed a wide smile at sleepytime Noct.  
  
"Hey, buddy, you finally awake?" he laughed, forcing the cheerful tone a bit more than he intended. "I've been up for hours."  
  
Noctis made a noise, much like a sleepy cat, but to Prompto it sounded a bit like "shut up 'm tired," and he slid into the seat directly beside him. He poked at his food with his fork, wrinkling his nose as he punctured the egg yolk and it ran down over his plate, his face relaxing as a scolding hum came from Ignis in response.   
  
It wasn't until Noctis started actually eating the bacon he was fussing over that Prompto realized he'd been staring at Noct's face this entire time, snapping himself out of the trance he didn't know he was having. He turned away, his eyes darting to Ignis briefly and, finding his eyes closed and uninterested in what Prompto was doing, turned his attention to his own food, never looking back up from his own plate, except to maybe steal a glance at the way Noctis's nose wrinkled at his runny yolk again.

* * *

"Dammit, I died again."  
  
Prompto laughed, even as Noctis fell back onto the couch, the controller falling onto the floor.  
  
"You know the rule, dude."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Noctis waved his hand, then threw his arm over his eyes, hearing the clunk of the controller as Prompto retrieved it from the floor. "Your turn."  
  
Prompto's weight shifted on the couch, his thigh inadvertently moving to lean against Noctis's head. His eyes widened behind his arm, his breath catching in his throat at the sudden rush of comfort. His stiff muscles relaxed on their own as he exhaled a small sigh, letting his head shift just enough to lay partway onto Prompto's thigh. He relaxed against the sounds of Prompto's frustration with the game and his furious taps at the controller, his apprehension and unpleasant emotions from waking alone stilled just from the warmth touching his head.  
  
"Noct?" Prompto's voice sounded close, a little too close, and Noctis moved his arm just enough to see blue eyes staring down into his only a few inches away. "You awake, buddy?"  
  
"Been awake this whole time," he replied, coming to realize that the comforting touch came not from laying his head on Prompto's thigh, but from a hand that had taken to stroking through his hair.  
  
"No you haven't," Prompto laughed, though Noctis could hear something else in his tone, but he couldn't identify it if he wanted to. "I died and you fell asleep on me."  
  
"You take another turn," Noctis mumbled, letting his eyes close again.   
  
"Won't say no to that~!" The hand in his hair left, and Noctis let out an involuntary sound of protest. "...Noct? You ok?"  
  
Noctis looked up at Prompto, meeting confused eyes as he then realized he had reached out and grabbed the hand that had pulled away from him. He released it and pulled his own hand away, averting his eyes to anywhere but Prompto's face.  
  
"Noct?"  
  
Noctis squeezed his eyes shut, crossing his arms against his chest, both wanting to pull away from Prompto but also not wanting to at all, his brain working overtime in trying to make sense of anything from the past few days, frying out and going blank as any form of answer eluded him. He heard plastic hit glass, assuming it was the controller landing on the coffee table. A shadow fell over his closed eyes, and he opened one eye to see freckles and a furrowed brow over him.  
  
"What?" he asked, his voice sounding raspy to his own ears.  
  
"You know what," Prompto replied, his voice low and missing its characteristic luster.   
  
Noctis found himself hating it.  
  
"No, I don't know what," Noctis said, somewhat bitterly, turning his eyes away.  
  
"You've been acting really weird."  
  
Noctis didn't respond, instead chewing against the inside of his cheek. He felt Prompto pull away a bit and heard him sigh through his teeth.  
  
"Is... Is it me?" Prompto asked, his voice cracking on the last syllable. "Am I doing something wrong?"  
  
_What?!_  
  
Noctis sat up immediately and turned toward him, finding him with his head low and bangs hiding his face, his shoulders slumped.  
  
"Prom, no, it's not..." He stumbled over the words before he lost them completely, even moreso when Prompto turned a heartbreaking gaze onto him, all the light he'd found so magnetizing gone from his friend's eyes.   
  
"I just can't tell what you want from me," Prompto said, his voice shaking. "We'll be having fun and then suddenly you're... mopey."  
  
Noctis's eyes widened.  
  
"Mopey?"  
  
"Yeah, dude, like..." Prompto tilted his head to the ceiling. "Like last night, I thought you wanted to hang out but instead you started crying, and I wasn't sure what to do, and it's not like it's the first time it's happened, so it seems like..."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like... I'm making you cry. Somehow."  
  
"Oh, _Prom_ , no, it's not that at all." Prompto glanced over at him and narrowed his eyes, seeming suspicious. "Really, I mean it. I... I actually have no idea what it is, but I know it's not that."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean..." Noct searched his mind for the words, the concept clear but the ways to describe it elusive. "I don't really know what's going on, but lately..." It was his turn to gaze up at the ceiling, balling his hands into fists on his lap. "I dunno, something just feels _off_ , and I didn't notice that it feels off until..." He let his voice trail off, the words catching in his throat.  
  
"...until a few days ago?" Prompto asked, his voice almost a whisper.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Noctis sighed, turning his gaze away from the ceiling and letting his head hang.  
  
"So," Prompto said as he shifted, and Noctis jumped slightly as a hand found his shoulder and slid around to his back, pulling him in close, his face buried in blond hair. "Does this feel less 'off'?"  
  
Noctis took in a deep breath through his nose, sensing a slight trembling in Prompto's arms and shoulder. Slowly, he let his hands found their way around a lithe waist, and they slid up near those trembling shoulders and squeezed. The trembling ceased, and Prompto let out a breath that he must've been holding for some reason, and Noctis leaned his face fully into that shoulder and smiled.  
  
"Yeah, it does."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is like 4 days late, had quite the week
> 
> Will proofread over the weekend, I'm tired

Almost a month had passed since the sleepover incident, and Noctis found himself thinking back on further incidents, his mind wandering to the time in the arcade, when Prompto celebrated beating him once again at that shooter game. His face had lit up, and a that feeling overwhelmed him again, and he had only resisted long enough to get home, before he latched a hand onto Prompto's arm just as his apartment door closed. Prompto seemed to understand much quicker than before, and Noctis got what he wanted.  
  
But it wasn't enough. It never was.  
  
He felt safe in Prompto's arms, and the uncomfortable knots in his stomach and aching in his skin would vanish immediately, and it would overwhelm him. He'd cling, cuddle, and sometimes even cry a little (or maybe a lot), and then, all too soon, Prompto would pull away and look at him with eyes that made his voice catch in his throat, preventing him from asking for more.  
  
He wanted more, though. He always wanted more. But, even though that particular incident had happened more than ten days prior, he still couldn't muster the courage to ask.  
  
Not like he knew what to ask for, anyway.  
  
"Noct."  
  
Noctis's mind snapped into the present, his eyes coming into focus on Ignis's stern stare at him from across the dining room table. He looked away immediately, shifting in his seat, his arms crossing over his stomach as he shrunk back slightly.  
  
"You haven't touched your breakfast," Ignis said in lieu of leaving the silence alone. "Are you feeling all right?"  
  
"Yeah, 'm fine, Specs," Noctis muttered, shrinking farther into his chair. "Just not hungry, is all."  
  
"As you've said for almost a week, now," Ignis replied, standing and bringing his own cleaned plate with him to the island just behind the table, placing it into the sink. "Far be it for me to be concerned about your nutritional intake."  
  
"It's just..." he trailed off, words failing him as he felt both unwilling and unable to voice his woes. "School, school's just stressing me out."  
  
"School, you say?" Ignis raised a brow. "And just what has 'school' done to cause you stress?"  
  
"You know..." he searched for any excuse, using a wave of his hand to stall for time. "Mid-terms coming up, too much to cover at once, the usual."  
  
"Your grades haven't been suffering," he stated matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Are you in need of tutoring, perhaps?"  
  
"No, not at all," he held his hands up in front of himself, his gaze locking onto the table in front of him, and he felt himself shrink back even more. "You don't need to worry about it, I'm fine."  
  
Ignis didn't respond this time, but in the time it took Noctis to look up from the table again, he had walked to within an arm's length of where he sat at the table, one hand hanging loosely as his other he perched on his hip. Noctis's eyes went straight to Ignis's free arm, his entire body frozen as he felt the urge to reach out and grab it overtake him. Again.  
  
"Did you have an argument with Prompto?" Ignis asked, his voice quiet and gentle, a contrast to the stern tone he held when the conversation started?  
  
"Huh?" Noctis spat, taken aback. "Why would I fight with Prompto?"  
  
"Well, as you know, when... ah..." Ignis trailed off this time, causing Noctis to momentarily forget about how much he wanted to latch onto the arm dangling in front of him.  
  
"Tongue-tied, Iggy?" he smirked, feeling a small spark rise in his gut. "That's not like you~."  
  
"Hardly," Ignis retorted, adjusting his glasses on his face again. "If no argument happened, then forget I said anything of the sort. I don't want to be responsible for causing friction in your relationship with him."  
  
"Appreciate it."  
  
Noctis rose to his feet, abandoning his breakfast to set his eyes on a very inviting couch. However, in standing up, he'd gotten terribly close to Ignis. Nothing out of bounds, as there was still a good four inches or so separating them, but it would have been nothing for him to just lift his hand and reach out--  
  
"Something the matter, Noct?"  
  
Noctis turned his face away, the realization dawning on him that he'd had an unwavering and (probably) leering stare locked onto his friend, his adviser, the person he trusted with every aspect of his life.   
  
"Nope, just sleepy," he replied, summoning forth a yawn to support his claim as he very quickly made a move for the couch. "Gonna nap."  
  
"Alright," Ignis said with a small pause. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me."

* * *

Noctis didn't nap at all in the hours before Prompto came by his apartment after work, instead trying to occupy his racing thoughts trapped by anticipation with King's Knight and a racing game on one of his consoles. He thought maybe, just maybe, once Prompto showed up he'd feel better, maybe even relieved, that maybe today would be different than every day since that afternoon after the arcade. Or the time before that after school. Or the time before that after the sleepover.  
  
The key turned in the lock and the door opened to reveal Prompto's weary-but-smiling face. And, surprising only to himself, it wasn't different today. In fact, it was much worse.  
  
"Hey, buddy!" Prompto said in that familiar sunshine tone of his, though a note of it betrayed it as something that Noctis was slowly seeing as some form of facade. "You getting started without me?" He gestured to the game, letting his bag fall to the floor by the sofa.  
  
Noctis didn't respond, just hung his shoulders, dropping the controller onto the coffee table.   
  
"I know that look," Prompto said quietly, plopping down on the sofa cushion next to Noctis. "Do you... I mean-- is it--?"  
  
"Prom," he groaned, his voice breaking midway through. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but all that came out was another crack in his voice.  
  
"Easy, easy," Prompto breathed, sliding an arm slowly across Noct's shoulders, pulling him in from the side.   
  
And, again, the tears came forth, the relief and comfort washing over him so quickly and suddenly that it almost hurt, and he pulled away slightly, only to whimper when Prompto pulled his arm away.  
  
"S-Sorry," Prompto muttered, shrinking back so little that Noctis wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been so hyperaware of his presence. "I didn't... I mean..."  
  
A sudden sob lodged into Noctis's throat just as he let out a breath and he let out a loud choking sound. Before Prompto could react, he threw himself into his chest, knocking Prompto backward at an angle into the back of the couch. Hands on his shoulders tried to nudge him away a little, but he just clung harder, half-laying on top of legs and chest, his face buried into a shoulder again, his hands gripping at a shirt.  
  
And he sobbed, loudly, his voice a scream to his own ears as everything overflowed. Arms embraced him and locked around his back, pulling him down closer and holding him so tight that he lost his grip on the shirt fabric and just collapsed onto his arms, where his sobs were slightly muffled by Prompto's shoulder. The hurt, the relief, the overwhelming emotions he could identify, all of it surged forth at once into his hysterics, and, at this point, he couldn't even bring himself to feel ashamed about it. Not when it had already started with nothing to stop it.  
  
And all the while, Prompto said nothing.  
  
Slowly, Noctis's sobs quieted, his throat raw and eyelashes clinging together with so many tears that his vision had completely blurred. As he felt himself relax a bit, Prompto shifted a little and sat up with him, one hand on his shoulder while the other gently cradled his face. His thumb swept away some tears, enough that Noctis's vision cleared enough to see blue eyes staring into his own, rimmed in red with the threat of tears of their own visible.  
  
"Prom, I--"  
  
"Noct, tell me something." Prompto's voice was quiet again, sounding strained. "Do you... I mean, is this..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Um..." Prompto chuckled slightly letting his hand on Noct's cheek fall away. "Nothing, it's stupid."  
  
"You can tell me, Prom."  
  
"Nah, it's okay. It wasn't that important."  
  
They sat in silence for a little while, Prompto's hand on Noctis's shoulder. The overwhelming whatever-emotions had subsided by now, and, for the first time in what must've been years, Noctis felt calm. Not tired, not listless, but calm. And Prompto seemed to notice, because he directed a look at him that seemed both surprised and almost proud.  
  
"You okay now?" Prompto asked, his voice hopeful.  
  
"I think so?" Noctis said, uncertainty creeping its way into his tranquility.  
  
"So what's wrong?"  
  
"It's just... it was too much at once, I think. But then, afterwards..." He swallowed around a lump in his throat, reaching out for Prompto's hand, the one that had left his face. "It's not enough."  
  
"Ah," Prompto breathed, placing his free hand over the one that reached out to him. "So, this... what is this?"  
  
"It's good."  
  
"So... more of it?"  
  
"Yeah."

* * *

More is definitely what Noctis got. What started as more frequent shoulder paps and playful hair ruffles grew into soft touches to hands and lingering half-hugs, some of which left Noctis with more than just that fuzzy comfort in their wake. Sometimes he found himself looking at Prompto's face a little too long, or wanting to hold onto his hand just a little longer, just for the sake of holding his hand and not from any of the strange urges to touch someone.  
  
One of those moments came when they once again found themselves sharing the couch in his apartment watching a movie on TV, his arm linked with Prompto's as their heads rested against each other. Noct felt his eyes begin to flutter, his head leaning farther into Prompto's neck, causing Prompto to shift just a bit, presumably to get more comfortable. It happened again, this time with Noctis's head tipping forward and almost off of the shoulder he rested on, which pulled away just as he caught himself.  
  
"Bedtime?" Prompto asked, letting out a yawn.   
  
"Yeah," Noctis muttered sleepily, curling up a bit more on the couch and practically wrapping himself around Prompto's arm to rest his head back where it was before.  
  
"Dude... here?"  
  
"Yeah." He snuggled up more, content with the warmth. "I'm comfy."  
  
Prompto made some kind of weird noise, causing Noctis to look up at him through his bangs. Blue eyes caught his again as Prompto turned his head, the movement and closeness causing a freckled nose to ruffle his hair a bit. Their stares lingered, and Noctis could've sworn time had stopped for a moment, especially so when the arm that Prompto didn't have wrapped around his shoulder came up toward his face and brushed some of his hair from his eyes, then trailed down his cheek. His heart pounded in his ears, and for a moment he thought he'd stopped breathing.  
  
Prompto adjusted his position suddenly, leaning back to lay down on the couch, pulling Noctis down with him onto his chest, both arms wrapped around him.  
  
"Bedtime," he stated this time, shifting around to get more comfortable before nuzzling his face into Noct's hair.  
  
Quicker than he expected, Noctis drifted off to sleep, sighing contently as he relaxed into Prompto's chest. In the fog of his drowsiness, he thought he felt Prompto press his mouth onto his hair. It was brief, and yet it wasn't, but he must have imagined it.  
  
Prompto wouldn't do that, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I don't know what happened here, all I know is I mixed US currency with Japanese restaurant customs

Morning came with an assault on Prompto's sleeping face by rays of fresh sunlight filtering through the large windows just behind Noctis's sectional, unimpeded by the curtains he forgot to close. He let out a small whine and tried to roll over to bury his face in a pillow, but a warm weight on his chest stopped him. He blinked the blur of sleep from his eyes enough to take in black hair that glowed with hues of blue in the sunrise, then the rest of Noctis's sleeping form, which curled slightly up against him, trapping most of the left side of his body between him and the couch.  
  
Using the hand that wasn't stuck underneath His Royal Sleepiness, Prompto ran his fingers through Noctis's unkempt hair, stroking through it much like he'd pet a dog, but slower and with much more admiration than he could ever have for a pet. He reached for the blanket that rested across Noctis's lower back and pulled it up farther, to where the hem lay across his neck. Noctis shivered a little and snuggled deeper into both the blanket and the chest under him, and Prompto smiled, his focus completely on how lucky he was to awake to the sight of Noctis, sleeping and vulnerable, so at ease with him that he cuddled up to him even in his sleep.  
  
Prompto's mind drifted away from the morning just a bit, remembering the night prior, when Noctis all but demanded to spend the entire night like this. The last few weeks had been weird, what with all the mixed signals Noctis had been giving him, but this conclusion was the farthest from his mind when he had tried to figure out what was wrong. And it was probably the best conclusion he could hope for, other than what he really wanted.  
  
But Noctis was royalty, and this would just have to do. He knew that.  
  
What he didn't know, as his mind cleared and took in his surroundings along with his memory of the night before, was the origin of a particular part of this scene.  
  
"...where did this blanket come from...?" he asked no one.  
  
"The two of you appeared a bit chilly," said no one in a characteristic accent, with a characteristic smirk just barely hidden within.  
  
If Noctis hadn't been snoozing so adorably on his chest at that moment, Prompto might've jumped right out of his skin and rocketed through the roof and into the void of space. Somehow, he managed to only do so internally, and, externally, whipped his head around toward the source of the voice, which so happened to be the kitchen, making breakfast.  
  
"Holy shit, Iggy!" Prompto stage-whispered, running his not-trapped hand through his messy hair in a futile attempt to make it presentable. "I-Is it that late already?"  
  
"Indeed," Ignis replied with a small smirk, flipping whatever he was cooking, which made a sizzling sound as it made contact with the skillet. "Now if you could awaken His Highness from his royal slumber, I'd be much appreciative."  
  
Prompto stifled a laugh, something about the lighthearted tone in Ignis's voice making the entire situation absurd. He looked down to Noctis's sleeping face again, taking in a breath as he noticed the calm and serene expression it held. Of course, Noct could fall asleep pretty much anywhere, but no matter where Prompto had found him, his expression in sleep always looked restless, sometimes pained, as if he couldn't relax. So why was this time the one time he'd seen him so relaxed in sleep? Was it because he was sleeping on the couch? Or his chest? Well, it couldn't be because of that because there's no way he was that special--  
  
The sizzling of bacon hitting a skillet brought Prompto out of the racing train of thought to the reality that, yes, he was supposed to be waking up the peaceful-looking boy curled on top of him. He was supposed to be disturbing that peace, and he really didn't want to. He was comfy, Noct looked comfy, and for once he felt useful.  
  
Whoa. That came out of nowhere.  
  
He shook his head a little and focused, putting his hand back onto Noct's head, petting through his hair with a bit more force and purpose.  
  
"Noct," he said with a rising inflection, shaking his hand around his the hair a bit. "Noct~."  
  
Noctis let out a sleepy groan and cuddled tighter, pulling in his head under the blanket so that it almost disappeared underneath. Prompto laughed.  
  
"Now's not sleeptime," Prompto chuckled, grabbing the blanket with his free hand. "Now's breakfast time!"  
  
He yanked the blanket away from them both and let it fall to the floor by the couch, and, with the rush of sudden cold air, Noct whined and recoiled into a half-fetal position on Prompto's chest, causing him to laugh harder. Noct's movement also freed Prompto's other hand, which he used to nudge stubborn shoulders up to a sitting position so he could shimmy his lower body free. He sat up and tried to stand, but a weight leaning on his shoulder stopped him.  
  
"C'mon, buddy," he chided, giving Noct's cheek a gentle tap with his knuckles. "Food."  
  
"Nnn," Noct whined in response, leaning heavier into Prompto's shoulder to the point that it almost hurt. "But 'm comfy..."  
  
"Dude," Prompto laughed, rolling his shoulder in a futile attempt to move him. "That can't be comfy."  
  
"It was until you started doing that," he muttered back, seeming to concede as he pulled away and blinked blearily at the rest of the room. "I smell bacon."  
  
"Perceptive," Ignis responded, that smirk still plastered across his face. "Let's hope you didn't squander all your brain power for the day on that one observation."  
  
"Ha ha," Noctis responded dryly, and Prompto watched him with warmth in his chest as his friend stood and stretched, seemingly back to normal. "Just don't sneak in any carrots and I'll have all the brain power you want from me."  
  
"Excellent," came the playful reply as Ignis plated the food and placed their respective meals on the table.

* * *

"See ya tonight, buddy!" Prompto called back over his shoulder as he slipped his shoes onto his feet in the entryway.

"See ya," Noctis called back from where he leaned against the counter.  
  
He watched as Prompto disappeared through the door, until the sharp click of the latch announced the door's closure. Within a few minutes, his phone vibrated on the counter, the indicator light flashing green from a push notification. He unlocked it and was met with a text from Prompto, and gracing his screen was a selfie taken in front of a small dog he presumably met in the elevator. Noct smiled softly to himself, basking in the light that Prompto's smile could somehow emanate even through a digital photo. His chest ached for a moment, most likely due to the longing he felt to just touch someone-- Prompto-- creeping its way back with the lack of contact.  
  
With a sigh, he locked his phone and set it on the counter, lifting his face at last to see Ignis staring at him, an unfamiliar expression on his face.  
  
"What?" Noct said, the word sounding much like a cough.  
  
"Nothing," Ignis replied with a smirk, sliding a mug of coffee across the counter to Noctis. "You seemed rather happy and I found it mesmerizing."  
  
"Very funny, Specs," he replied with a grin, lifting his mug to his lips and taking a tentative sip. Still too hot. "Need anything from me today?"  
  
"Have you gone over those reports I gave you yet?"  
  
"No..." Noct hung his head, setting the mug back onto the counter.  
  
"Then I'd recommend you go over them before your date with Prompto tonight, since I'm sure you won't have the desire to go over them afterward." Ignis smirked again, taking a long slow sip of his coffee before meeting Noctis's wide eyes. "Something the matter?"  
  
"Did you just call it a 'date'?"  
  
"Well, yes."  
  
"It's... not one, though? We're just gonna hang out at the arcade and get something to eat after."  
  
Ignis was silent for a moment, taking another drink of his coffee before setting it on the counter in front of him. He adjusted his glasses, then crossed the room, picking up a red folder off of the coffee table. He batted some crumbs off of the slick cover before returning to the counter, sliding it over in front of Noctis.  
  
"Whatever you call it," he said, his tone low and soft, almost motherly. "Be certain it doesn't get in the way of your duties."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Noct replied, waving Ignis off with his hand. "I'll look it over this afternoon, don't worry."  
  
"I do worry." His hand landed suddenly on Noctis's shoulder, and a jolt sparked across it and down his back. "I worry that you're not taking into account that one day you'll have to take the throne, and that means..." He trailed off, causing Noctis to meet his eyes.  
  
"That means I have to produce an heir," Noct added.  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"I know, Specs, though I don't know what that has to do with anything."  
  
Ignis's hand squeezed against his shoulder, and, with it, the muscles in his neck that he didn't even know were tense relaxed, causing him to slump onto his arms on the counter. The hand withdrew, leaving an emptiness in its place, and Noctis looked up to see his adviser leaning with his back against the counter, facing out to the rest of the apartment, silent.  
  
"Specs?"  
  
"Perhaps now isn't the best time for this discussion," Ignis replied quietly, still not looking in Noct's direction. "As long as you're aware, that's all that matters for now."  
  
Noctis raised as eyebrow, unable to connect whatever dots Ignis had laid out with this duty talk. He turned his gaze to his own coffee, steam still rising out of it, losing his gaze in the blackness of it. Prompto would look good in black...  
  
"Whatever you say, Specs."

* * *

"High score, baby!"  
  
Prompto lifted his drink in victory, grinning widely and expectantly at Noct, who smirked back and clinked his own glass against Prompto's.  
  
"You're still on about that?" he laughed, pausing to sip from the straw. "It was just seventh place."  
  
"Seven out of the top ten!" Prompto corrected, his entire body shifting in the booth seat as he leaned over the table toward Noctis. "You didn't shut up for a week after you beat your best score on Justice Monsters 4, so it's only fair!"  
  
Noctis just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, unable to come up with a response as he stared into Prompto's face. His eyes were scrunched up where his smile bled into them, freckles scattered about beneath them and even around them, arranged much like stars. Random, but also with purpose, and he could never count them all, but he wanted to try.  
  
"Noct?"  
  
A dusting of pink invaded the freckles, and he snapped back into reality to see Prompto shrunken back slightly, his gaze darting to and away from him.  
  
"...Was I spacing out again?"  
  
"You were." Prompto ran a hand through his golden hair, looking over Noct's head toward the front of the diner. "Hey, our food's on its way."  
  
Noctis looked over his shoulder to see their waitress walking over with a round tray, their plates balanced on it, only his own burger (plain) and fries visible from this angle. She sat Prompto's plate down first, revealing it to be a similar burger with a side salad, then sat Noctis's plate in front of him, following it with the check into its metallic holder on the table.  
  
"Whenever you're ready," she said with a small bow. "Enjoy your meal."  
  
"Thanks!" Prompto said quickly before diving into his meal, almost demolishing the salad before Noctis even picked up his burger.  
  
"Dude, are you even tasting any of that?" he laughed, then had to contain another laugh when Prompto's face went just the slightest bit pink again.  
  
"Yeah, dude, didn't you know?" Prompto replied, pointing a dressing-soaked fork at him. "Can't hate them if you can't taste them. You should try it sometime."  
  
"I'll pass."  
  
"Your loss."

* * *

Needless to say, Noctis didn't finish all of his food, only getting a few bites into his burger and eating most of his fries. He kept getting distracted with Prompto's animated mannerisms, something he had noticed before but never really _noticed_  before, though the reason for that was probably due to his obsession with wanting hugs and cuddles from his best friend. Probably.  
  
So here they were, walking toward Prompto's house nearby, where Ignis was due to pick him up and chauffeur him to his own empty flat. The thought knawed at him, and, without noticing at first, he leaned over and his shoulder brushed Prompto's arm, and that arm immediately draped itself over the back of his neck and shoulders.  
  
"Uh, you sure you don't wanna sp--sleep over tonight?" Prompto asked, his voice a bit shaky.  
  
"I can't no matter what I want," Noctis groaned in response, tilting his head into the crook of an arm. "I have to get up early for council meetings at the Citadel. All day."  
  
"Ouch," came the reply, that forced lighthearted tone appearing again, causing Noct's chest to ache. "Well, I'm not busy tomorrow, so you can come over after, right?"  
  
"Sure, if I don't pass out first."  
  
"Then I'll take that as a no."  
  
They both laughed, almost stumbling over each other as they lost their mutual walking rhythm. They managed to regain it without one of them face-planting onto the sidewalk just in time to reach the front gate of Prompto's house. The windows were dark, as usual, and there was no sign of Ignis's car in the narrow street. Noctis pulled away slightly to pull his phone from his pocket, unlocking it to navigate to his messaging app, a red bubble over it indicating an unread message.  
  
_> Running a tad late, will be there shortly._  
  
"What's up?" Prompto asked, his arm now shifted so his hand rested on the junction between Noctis's shoulder and neck. It felt nice.  
  
"Specs is running late."  
  
"Wow, that's not like him."  
  
"I know."  
  
He locked his phone and shoved it back in his pocket, looking toward Prompto to see him looking elsewhere. The hand on his neck felt hot, both too much so and just enough so, and he shifted his weight a bit uncomfortably. The contact felt comfortable, but the air around and between them felt tight, though there was no reason for it. Prompto rubbed the back of his own neck with his free hand and let out a small chuckle.  
  
"So... uh..." Their eyes met for a moment and Prompto looked away immediately, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth.  
  
"What?" Noctis responded, though his voice sounded far away to himself, his gaze lost in constellations of freckles again, the way they gathered around and across a nose and trailed down in an uneven gradient down pink cheeks, with a couple strays finding their way near that worrying mouth.  
  
He could stare all night, he realized, but what he didn't realize was that his own hand had found its way up to those freckles, and the skin jumped beneath his fingers as he tried to trace them, a yelp following the jump.  
  
"Hey," Prompto whined, though his voice didn't have the high inflection it usually did when he was expressing mock-offense. It was darker, and softer somehow, but Noctis didn't think too hard about it, instead trying again and succeeding in tracing his fingers across a grouping of freckles. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Uh..." His mind scrambled for some form of excuse, especially not the truth, which was he didn't have any idea what he was doing. "Just... wanted to know what your freckles felt like." The truth was probably better.  
  
"Dude," Prompto coughed out a laugh, sliding the hand resting on Noct's neck up to his face. "They feel the same as yours." He traced his thumb near his jawline, stroking softly, before their gazes locked onto each other's. "Like skin."  
  
Noctis didn't respond; he'd lost his voice somewhere between the hand finding his face and their eyes meeting. Time froze again, or seemed to, and he couldn't move, mesmerized by the way the streetlights played in those clear blue eyes. He thought of the sky on a cloudless day, though even that didn't compare with the small flecks of color scattered throughout the blue irises he found himself staring into. And, when those eyes moved, his gaze darted down to parted lips for a split second, but that's all it took.  
  
Prompto leaned forward quickly, suddenly, and Noctis's gasp was cut off by lips enveloping his own. The hand tightened against his jaw and even into his hair, the other hand coming around to his other cheek to grasp his face firmly as he was seemingly pulled forward, magnetized, hands not knowing where to go until they found themselves in soft hair. His entire body surged with a kind of electricity, a feeling he recognized as the overwhelming sensation of Prompto hugging him too tightly too fast.  
  
It was chaste, Prompto's lips just barely open and only moving slightly for some soft friction, but Noctis's body felt weak regardless, and he clung to Prompto's face as if it was the only way to keep from collapsing onto the pavement. Prompto made a noise deep in his throat as his grip tightened in that blond hair, and, for some reason, he felt like he wasn't completely in control, his body too hot and too much _feeling_  happening that he just sought out more, leaning up into a willing mouth and feeling teeth scrape briefly against his lips.  
  
Everything suddenly went bright white, Prompto letting out a strangled noise as he yanked himself away, the electricity fizzling out into static at the loss of contact. Noctis opened his eyes, not realizing they were closed until now, seeing the headlights of Ignis's car approaching slowly from the same direction they just came from. Prompto, after putting his hand to his mouth for a moment, smiled, and that ache in Noct's chest returned.  
  
"So, yeah, see ya whenever you're not busy or sleeping!" he announced, that too-cheery tone back in his voice, and, before Noctis could respond, he'd vaulted over the front wall and disappeared into his house.  
  
The car pulled up beside him, but Noctis didn't move, his eyes locked onto the door that just closed, lips still wet from the... kiss? Is that what just happened?  
  
He tried, but failed, to process anything about the last however many seconds or minutes, only aware that it _did_  happen and the confusion he was left with. It didn't make sense, but he'd never had an actual friend before, so maybe friends did that sometimes? But Gladio and Ignis never so much as hugged him, at least not frequently, and kissing only happened between couples in movies and on TV, right?  
  
Meanwhile, in the car, Ignis had pulled up and thrown the car into park, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He tapped away at his phone, typing out a short but poignant message, the top of the screen reading 'Gladiolus.'  
  
Just as Noctis seemed to come to his senses and the door opened, he tapped send, quickly locking his phone and stowing it into the center console. Noctis didn't say a word, but he didn't need to, and instead took to pretending to doze off against the window.  
  
Across town, at the Amicitia estate, Gladio reached over to his nightstand as his phone vibrated, squinting at the bright screen in the dark of his bedroom.  
  
_One new message._  
  
He typed in his passcode and opened the notification, greeted by the message thread between himself and Ignis, the new message at the bottom searing into his eyes.  
  
_> You owe me 50 dollars._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened. Yell at me on tumblr at prince-snoozy


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis starts to figure some things out, but other people are figuring them out first, and he's confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's probably some glaring errors, but I'll fix them when I proofread tomorrow and I'll delete this note when it's done. Enjoy.

So, these meetings couldn't have come at a worse time.  
  
Noctis sat at the ornate table, just to the left of his father, his elbow propped up on the arm of the uncomfortable chairs used in the conference room. He leaned his head on his hand, the droning of two voices arguing about something to do with trade in Accordo or Lestallum or maybe _both_  bouncing around in muted tones in his head without leaving a single trace of information.  
  
He shifted in his seat a little, the hardbacked chair pressing into the knotted muscles in his back in all the wrong places, and re-positioning himself only made that worse. At least it was some kind of distraction from his fatigue, and he could grimace at the gold trim on the table's surface instead of at his father's aging face and physique. He tried to keep his mind clear, to pay some sort of attention to, what was it again? Food shortages in Leide? He couldn't focus for long, and not even the dull ache radiating through his back from the chair could distract him from the thoughts that kept creeping their way back into his head and pushing the current moments away.  
  
Prompto most definitely kissed him last night. He didn't imagine it; he could still _feel_  it on his lips, even now, twelve hours later and several hours into this meeting marathon. He reached for his mouth with his free hand, absentmindedly running his thumb across his bottom lip, as if in thought, but really he just wanted to get rid of the residual tingling for even a moment. It backfired, however, for he just made it worse; he was once again transported back to the street in front of Prompto's house, a constellation of freckles just out of focus as Prompto straight up _kissed_  him. And it wasn't like the small moments before, where he was falling asleep or even just barely waking up, and he'd find lips touching his hair or forehead for a moment; he could write those off as accidents.  
  
No, this very vivid memory was _definitely_  a kiss, he knew that much. But why? He couldn't just assume that all best friends kiss each other like that sometimes, since, when he couldn't sleep the night before, he spent hours on Google searching for anything that would explain it, since it worked for anything else he couldn't explain about other people's behavior. This, though, only turned up obscure ethnic customs and Q&A sites that told him in less simple terms that if a friend kisses you, they like you in the dating kind of way, which made even less sense.  
  
But he'd found a source with the answer to a similar question: if you _liked_  the kiss, then you have a crush on your friend. And that was just completely wrong in his circumstances. He liked Prompto, a lot, but not in _that_  way, though he didn't exactly think hard about _that_  way about anyone to begin with, but it was still out of the question. The kiss was still really nice, though.  
  
And, as he ran his thumb across his lip again, that ache for contact creeped into him once more. Though, instead of a hug, he wanted to kiss again, and this time he wanted it only from Prompto.  
  
"Noctis?"  
  
He froze, eyes locking onto his father looking at him expectantly. He dropped his arm onto the table and cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he averted his eyes away.  
  
"Sorry," he replied, without any of his dignified 'royal' tone. "What was the question?"  
  
Ignis, who sat directly across from Noctis, looked up from his notepad, tapping his pen impatiently against the table.  
  
"Noct," he began, his tone scolding, but his face betrayed a small smirk. "You must pay attention. It won't do the nation any good to have you so... _distracted_."  
  
Noctis's head whipped up to stare at Ignis, and he narrowed his eyes at him.  
  
"I'm not distracted."  
  
"Then answer the councilwoman's question."  
  
"Uh..." Noct felt his face grow hot, his eyes surveying over no less than _four_  different councilwomen, all looking at him expectantly.  
  
"No need to tease him, Ignis," Regis said then, leaning forward on the table on one arm. "We've all been young, let him be a bit distracted now."  
  
Noct raised an eyebrow at his father, who fucking _winked_  at him as they made eye contact, and he could've sworn he heard Ignis stifle a laugh from across the table, but it could have just as easily been a cough. He drew his hands down, under the table, and rubbed them together slowly, interlocking his fingers as he did so. It soothed him just enough to bring back his nerve.  
  
"Repeat the question, if you would," he said with a bit more of his formal lilt to his voice, with a slight lift of his chin.  
  
"Ms. Pardus," Regis added, holding out his hand to the woman sitting to Ignis's left.  
  
"Your Highness," she began, giving a small nod from her seat. "The rest of the council and I would like to know your thoughts on opening additional trade routes to Lestallum, based on this month's activity reports."  
  
"Well," he began, exhaling a long and slow breath to try to gather his thoughts and his memory of the papers, information bleeding into his mind as he remembered the numbers and words highlighted on white pages. "I don't think it's wise to close the routes we have and open new ones, because those might be more dangerous than the ones we have. I propose we close the most southern route since it's had the most disruption, then open up the safest alternative. Then we can wait it out and go from there."  
  
"So you _were_  paying attention," Ignis said, a smirk forming on his lips. "That's been the consensus so far."  
  
"Uh..." Noctis's face grew ever hotter and he averted his gaze. "Actually it's just what I came up with after I looked over the reports again this morning."  
  
"I'm just happy you read them," Regis laughed, gaining a few relieved and nervous laughs from the rest of the council. "So we're all in agreement, then?"  
  
Noctis shrank back in his seat a bit, not looking forward to three more hours of this.

* * *

Later on, after the meetings, Noctis found himself staring at a plate of steak and carrots, his face twisting at the orange abominations in front of him, and Regis sat across the dining table, already digging into his meal. He hadn't exactly _planned_  on having dinner with his father in this old dining hall, but he couldn't exactly say no to the invitation, not after seeing just how bad Regis's limp had gotten in the past few months; he even needed a cane, now.  
  
"How's school?" Regis asked, Noctis internally-deflating at the start of small talk.  
  
"It's fine," he muttered in reply, poking at his steak with his fork.  
  
"Finals are soon, right?"  
  
"Next month."  
  
"Ignis informs me you're performing well."  
  
"I guess."  
  
He took a bite of his steak, chewing, the taste not offensive but also not overly-pleasant. It was much like when he was a child, the flavor not lacking, but nothing really special about it; something about this room made everything taste much more bland than it really was. He swallowed and poked at his carrots, suddenly wishing Prompto were next to him, so he could nudge him with an elbow and maybe pawn his carrots off on his plate. He smiled, the thought of Prompto in the King's private dining room almost absurd, but also not unrealistic. He'd look at home here, even as a commoner, and would look stunning in a tailored pinstripe suit, ranks above his school attire.  
  
A fork tinkling against the plate across from him jarred him from his daydream, and he looked up from his carrots to see Regis staring at him, hands folded, a warm smile on his face.  
  
"So," Regis began, the smile reaching the lines by his eyes. "Who's the lucky girl?"  
  
"What?" Noctis coughed, dropping his fork with a loud _clang_  on his plate.  
  
"Oh, my apologies." The smile widened. "Lucky boy?"  
  
Heat spread from his cheeks all the way down to his chest, and he lowered his head slightly to hide behind his bangs.  
  
"Lucky boy, it is," Regis grinned, stroking his chin with one hand. "Could it be... oh, what's his name, Ignis showed me photos of the young man with blond hair... Prompter?"  
  
"Prompto, Dad," Noctis replied without thinking, slamming his own hand onto his mouth far too late.  
  
"Yes, he's the one who's had you so distracted, is he not?"  
  
Noctis said nothing, but felt as if his entire face would spontaneously-combust.  
  
"There's no need to be embarrassed, my son." His voice had softened from the playful tone from before, and, when Noctis looked up, he almost saw himself reflected in his father's eyes for a moment. "Whatever you're feeling is perfectly normal."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied hastily, shoving the food on his fork into his mouth. It was a carrot.  
  
"Just take your time," Regis replied with a slight laugh, returning his attention to his own plate. "But don't waste it."  
  
Noctis found himself unable to reply, the grossness from the carrot all but choking him until he was able to swallow, but by then the moment had passed, and they were able to continue the rest of their dinner in relative silence.  
  
He never did ask what Prompto had to do with anything, or why his dad of all people knew he'd been thinking about him all day.

* * *

After the awkward dinner with his father, Noctis found himself back in his apartment, having been dropped off by Ignis several minutes prior. The ride over was relatively normal, except for the small looks Ignis kept giving him and the prodding to talk about his 'date' with Prompto. It wasn't a date, they went to the arcade all the time. It was normal friends stuff.  
  
He'd managed to convince Ignis, at least he thought so, and he pulled his phone from his pocket for the first time since the night prior, the power having been turned off due to his duties. He held the lock button, releasing when it buzzed and the bright screen flashed on suddenly. He walked to his room as it booted, shedding clothes on the way. In his boxers, he tossed his still-booting phone onto his pillow before going to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.  
  
As he wiped water from his face, he looked up into the mirror, his fingers finding his lips briefly as he stared at them through his reflection. It was odd; he had no desire to kiss himself, couldn't find any reason to at all if he wasn't himself, so why would Prompto? Why did he kiss him at all? And why did he  _enjoy_  it?  
  
He shook his head, dropping the washcloth in the sink as he switched off the light to retreat into his room. He collapsed onto the mattress facedown, groaning as his phone dinged and vibrated at him from inches away. He rolled onto his side and unlocked the phone, met with a notification for spam in his email's inbox, which he swiftly deleted. He navigated to his messages, tapping on Prompto's name immediately, and his heart sank without his consent.  
  
No new messages.  
  
He tapped on the message field and began typing  
  
_> Hey about last night, I_  
  
Delete.  
  
_> Did you want to go do som_  
  
Delete.  
  
_> Can I call_  
  
Delete.  
  
He let out a deep sigh and shoved his phone under his pillow, then pulled the covers up to his face, settling into them with a dejected breath. The ache returned, both for more of that kiss, which he now felt was unfinished somehow, and also for more of the usual hugs and cuddling he'd grown used to by now. The room felt too empty, but lighter, with none of the suffocating void he'd been feeling before he'd trusted Prompto with his needs.  
  
He'd used Google for that the night before, too. 'Skin hunger' was what some sources called it, and also 'touch-starvation' or 'touch-deprivation' from others; a need for more physical contact and affection than you're getting, which, in Noct's case, was next to none. He had a term for it now at least, but that still didn't explain why he craved more of Prompto's lips on his own, feeling so much closer to him than he'd ever been with someone, and the _sounds_  Prompto had made, however brief, had him soaring as he replayed the memory over and over again.  
  
His lips retained a soft smile as he fell asleep, exhaustion finally taking him over.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was originally going to be a 4-scene chapter but since I forgot to bring my notes with me on my weekend trip, the rest of things I had planned for this chapter will be in chapter 8
> 
> Enjoy :3

He wasn't entirely sure when it happened, but Prompto was kissing him again, seemingly in a corner of an alley, a lot of burnt orange and tans surrounding them. It was hot, but they didn't care, the sounds of a festival of some sort reaching Noct's ears in muffled tones, to the point that he couldn't discern the music from the voices, everything else a haze of color, like an unnatural fog had settled over every inch of this place, wherever it was.  
  
Prompto held him against the wall by his forearms, licking down into his mouth slowly, almost lazily, but the next second his teeth scraped against his neck, and Noctis felt himself almost deflate. He slid partway down the wall, teeth latched onto his neck and a hand dragging nails up his back under his shirt.  
  
Another split second, and he had his legs wrapped around Prompto's waist, bites and kisses trailing down under the strange costume he wore ~~_(it felt like some kind of elaborate bathrobe)_~~ , which he didn't _think_ he'd been wearing before now, but maybe he was? It didn't matter, not with how Prompto licked up his collarbone and dug blunt nails into his thighs. He keened, his head lifting back, and it dawned on him that he'd done this before, or maybe he hadn't; his head was all fuzzy, almost like he wasn't quite _here_ , and the only thing that mattered right now was Prompto.  
  
Except, he wasn't with Prompto. He knew that now, very suddenly, though he couldn't see the not-Prompto's face for some reason. Panic rose in his chest, and the figure, which still had their mouth latched firmly onto his neck, dissolved into a shadow. He couldn't breathe, couldn't _stop_  himself as the scene progressed, but got even more cloudy than before, a hand sliding between his thighs as the shadow spread and clouded out his senses, leaving him floating in a void as his eyes slid shut.  
  
Noctis opened his eyes to a clouded sky, the sound of rain falling around his head. He tried to look around, but only managed to turn his head to one side. He was on his back, but his entire body felt too heavy, almost locked in place, and the world was cold beyond his touch. Someone appeared above him. _Prompto_  appeared above him, he knew for certain this time. The hand on his chest was soothing, not searching, and the other hand on his head was tender and gentle, fingers caressing down his face as he struggled to breathe. But why couldn't he just _move_  and reach out for Prompto and hold him? He couldn't even so much as move his own fingers, let alone bring his best friend into a tight hug.  
  
He thought he heard Prompto's voice, but couldn't make out the words, lips close to his forehead, then against his ear. "I'm sorry"? Is that what he heard? Sorry for what? Prompto didn't do anything wrong, he never did, so why would he be sorry?  
  
His eyes followed Prompto as he sat up, and he couldn't see it, but he knew there were tears streaming down across freckles. A beat, and then Prompto flinched, hunched over slightly as the forward half of a blade seemingly appeared, piercing through from behind, blood already pooling around the wound.  
  
Time slowed, for the first time since these events unfolded, and, instead of muffled sounds and whispers, the rain became deafening, the sharp ripping of the blade back out of Prompto's chest piercing his eardrums. He caught Prompto's eyes for a long moment, light fading out of his crystal blue eyes as he fell forward and heavy onto Noctis's chest, one arm hanging off limply onto the concrete beside them.  
  
Noct tried to scream, but no sound happened; he tried to move, but his limbs still felt far too heavy, and heavier still as Prompto's lifeless body almost crushed him with the finality of its weight. He somehow locked his eyes onto the culprit, a shadow, the same shadow from before, standing above him. He couldn't make out any details, or really any form of identification, but he knew, somehow, that the figure was the one from before, that he'd been tricked somehow.  
  
And all at once, he could move again. The figure was gone, the rain was hitting his back, and he knelt over Prompto, who had long since stopped moving, all the color drained from his face, his clothes soaked through with blood and rain and mixed in pools around him. He put his hand on a cold cheek, his jaw fell open, and he screamed.  
  
Noctis's eyes snapped open, wide and frightened, his breathing frantic and erratic. He sat up, no longer soaked in the rain, but in his own bed and dry, except perhaps for the sweat that had his bangs sticking to his forehead. His hands found their way up to his mouth, clamping shut over it as he hunched forward, his entire body trembling as the panic from something that wasn't even _real_ took its toll on him. He squeezed his eyes shut against tears, his eyes stinging, his throat dry as he gasped for breath through his hands.  
  
_Prompto..._  
  
He let his hands fall away from his face, a broken sob slicing its way through his throat. He turned his head toward his pillow, seeing the edge of his phone sticking out from underneath. He practically dove for it, unlocking it in the same motion. Before he could even think about stopping himself, he tapped out a frantic message in his thread with Prompto.  
  
_> Hey_  
_> You awake?_  
  
After hitting send, he collapsed onto his front onto the bed, clutching his phone close to his face, the backlight much too bright, but he didn't care. He waited. And waited. The light dimmed, and he waited. He blinked and the backlight timed out, and he unlocked the phone and waited some more.  
  
The read receipt didn't even appear.  
  
Without thinking about it, he tapped the call button in the thread, pressing the speakerphone icon immediately. The call connected, and it rang. And rang. And rang. And rang again.  
  
Then stopped. Prompto's cheerful voice echoed in his room.  
  
_'Heyaz, this is Prompto, leave me a message and I'll get back to ya ASAP! Peace out!'_  
  
His thumb mashed into the end icon and he collapsed onto his phone, still shaking. His skin ached, something it hadn't done in weeks now, tears now streaming down his face without restraint. His arms found his pillow and he brought it in close, nuzzling his face into it, the tears dampening the fabric just enough to be slightly uncomfortable.  
  
He dozed off at some point after that, practically wrapped around his pillow, quietly sobbing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God sorry this took longer than usual, I hit a huge wall in this chapter for like a week. It's done now, though, sorry for leaving you guys with such a downer on the last update
> 
> As usual, will proofread later and delete this part when I do

The next morning started normal enough. Noctis dragged himself groggily out of bed, Ignis made them both breakfast, the usual. There was some talk of the meeting that he didn't really listen to, questions about how dinner went with his father, which he answered with mumbles and shrugs. He poked at his eggs with his fork, trying to gather enough nerve to initiate what Google had suggested he try with this whole touch hunger thing.  
  
"Hey, uh, Specs..." he said quietly, turning his gaze up to Ignis's.  
  
"What is it, Noct?" Ignis asked in response.  
  
Green eyes bored into him, and he couldn't bear to maintain the eye contact (not that he ever could, anyway). He dropped his fork and wrung his hands together, his thumbs rubbing against each other in a soothing motion, his eyes on his plate.  
  
"Is this about me catching you with Prompto the other night?" Ignis asked a bit too casually.  
  
Noct's eyes widened and his face grew hot.  
  
"You... saw us?" he squeaked out.  
  
"I thought you knew."  
  
"No, I... I mean..."  
  
"It's alright, I'm happy for you."  
  
There was a silence, gears turning in Noctis's head as he tried to figure out just what Ignis could've meant by that, but with no results. Happy he got kissed, supposedly? Who knows; not Noctis. He finally met Ignis's gaze again, biting his lip as he mulled over the options for his approach.   
  
"So, Specs..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Is it ok if... I asked you to hug me?"  
  
Ignis's eyes widened just barely, his silverware clinking down onto his plate as he sat them down.  
  
"Is something the matter?" he asked, concern masking over his features and voice.  
  
"No, I mean... yeah, probably," Noctis said in a stumble, averting his gaze away once again. "I think... uh... have you ever heard of... well, nevermind."  
  
"Noct..." Ignis clasped his hands with his elbows on the table, something inherently _impolite_ at breakfast. "I'm here to talk if you want it, as not only your adviser, but your friend. I won't judge."  
  
"Okay, yeah, I think there's something wrong with me."  
  
"And giving you a hug will help?"  
  
"I think?" Noct let out a loud sigh, covering his eyes with one hand. "I dunno, I'm going off Google for this one, and it says I might be touch starved or something."  
  
"Is that so."  
  
Ignis stood suddenly, Noctis starting and pulling his hand away from his face as Ignis rounded the table.  
  
"Well," he said, holding out his arms. "Come on, then."  
  
Noct didn't have to be told twice. His body moved on its own, as he stood from the table and practically fell into Ignis's offering arms, burying his face in his should just as he would with Prompto. He clung to the warmth and relief washed over him, Ignis's arms wrapping gently, but firmly, around his back, as if he were being overly-cautious. He relaxed, almost as if a weight had been lifted from him, bridging the gap from the day prior, and he nuzzled down into that welcoming shoulder.  
  
And then, just when he'd relaxed enough to breathe, Ignis pulled away, a quick meeting of eyes, and then he turned to adjust his glasses.  
  
"Will that suffice?" he asked, shifting his attention to the table and the cleaning of plates from it.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure..." came Noctis's muted reply.  
  
"You best get ready, then," Ignis said as he made his way to the sink to soak the dishes. "You have training with Gladio in an hour."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," he replied with a wave, already turning to head to his room.  
  
Upon closing the door to his bedroom, he leaned against it, his body warm and no longer aching like it had before, and, from the feel of it, Ignis's hug had done the trick.  
  
But it wasn't the same.

* * *

Here he was, staring at the ceiling again.  
  
Even with the breath knocked out of him, he let his eyes run over the elaborate columns and tile that made up the high ceiling and walls of the training room, appreciating for a moment the gorgeous blue hues that he never gave a second thought to warping and stabbing a sword into. Staring at them, though, he realized they weren't blue at all, but more of a cool grey, and it was the way the light would cast shadows on the room against the other darker grey tiles that gave the overall impression of blue.  
  
Or, perhaps, he'd just had blue on his mind, for whatever reason. A radial gradient of blue that started light in the middle, almost the color of the sky on a cloudless day, then faded into a deeper shade, almost royal blue.  
  
Like the sylleblossom in Luna's notebook.  
  
"Naptime's over, Princess," Gladio rumbled from somewhere above him, and Noctis tilted his head just enough to see a tattooed arm extended toward him. "C'mon, get up."  
  
Noct averted his eyes and huffed, reaching for the hand anyway and allowing Gladio to lift him to his feet. His hand lingered, even as Gladio let go and hoisted his training glaive up and over to rest it on his shoulder. The tingling warmth in his hand had been brief, but it was there, and he found himself staring at his palm, eyes narrowed.   
  
Not the same. Not the same at all.  
  
"Hey, you listening?" Gladio's voice shook him out of his trance. "What's up with you?"  
  
"Nothing," he replied a bit too quickly, shaking his head in some kind of effort to clear his brain fog.   
  
"'Nothing'?" Gladio repeated, a wry smirk pulling at one corner of his mouth. "I don't think so."  
  
"What'd Iggy tell you?" Noct asked with an exhausted sigh, collapsing onto his butt on the floor.  
  
"Iggy didn't tell me anything," came the quiet reply, followed by the sharp sound of boots on hard tile that approached. "Well, not today anyway."  
  
"So you know about it too?" Noctis asked without looking Gladio, who now stood close enough to cast a shadow over him. He pulled into himself, his arms crossing tight against his chest while his legs crossed on the floor.  
  
"Know about what?"  
  
He froze, and his voice became lost in his throat before he could even attempt a retort.  
  
"Noct," he sighed, sitting down next to Noctis on the floor. He let his sword rest across his lap, and he followed his gaze out to the opposite wall, all the way across the large training room. "Your business is yours, but you need to focus more in the moment once in awhile."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You can't be spacing out like that, not in a real fight. I won't have it."  
  
"Didn't realize I was spacing out."  
  
"Noct, can you just let me do my job for once?"  
  
"Sounds more to me like you need a break." He regretted the snarky remark immediately, slumping his shoulders a bit. "I mean--"  
  
"Maybe 'job' was the wrong word. This isn't just a job to me."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Is it the King again?"  
  
"No."  
  
"So..." Gladio turned his eyes to the floor for a moment. A smirk grew across his lips again, and he laughed. Loudly. "I get it."  
  
"What's so funny?" Noct looked at him finally, his eyes weary.  
  
"Heard your date with Prompto went well," he grinned, laughed again when Noct's face turned _very_ pink.  
  
"It wasn't a date!" he insisted, pulling into himself again and tilting his head forward so his bangs would hide his face. "So you _did_ talk to Ignis."  
  
"About that, yeah, a little. What's the big deal?"  
  
Noctis tried to reply with something snarky, or anything really, but all that came out was a disgruntled mumble.  
  
"Don't be like that." A large hand landed on his shoulder, and he relaxed. "Even if you're acting a bit airheaded, you... you seem a lot happier than you've been."  
  
He looked toward Gladio again, his eyes wide and questioning. "What do you mean?"  
  
"How to put it..." The hand left his shoulder, and the shuffling of steel and leather filled the brief silence as Gladio rose to his feet. "I guess you don't look as upset when you're spacing out as you used to."  
  
Noctis didn't respond, but kept that questioning gaze.  
  
"Forget it," Gladio waved it off, offering his hand again. "It's not important. Let's get back to it."  
  
"Right."

* * *

The next day and a half had been near-torture, especially at school. During a break in training, he'd checked his phone to find the following message from Prompto:  
  
_> sorry dude I was sleeping and my phone died and I didnt know you called until just now_  
  
He'd laughed to himself, he remembered, and responded without thinking.  
  
_> it's ok_  
 _ >can you come by tonight_  
  
_> can't_  
 _ >work_  
 _ >tomorrow night?_  
  
_> sure_  
  
He'd said sure like it was fine, but it _wasn't_  fine. He had to sit through all six hours of school, with Prompto in his class the whole time, right in front of him, unable to talk to him much outside of breaks. And Prompto, damn him, kept everything friendly, joking with him like normal, as if the kiss had never happened.  
  
But it happened, and Noctis couldn't help but let his gaze linger at Prompto's mouth much longer than he should have, and this kept happening right up to them riding in the elevator up to his flat together, and he made a point to avoid it so he could at least unlock the door and get them both through the door.  
  
He'd barely gotten his shoes off and Prompto was already perched on the couch, reaching for one of the controllers strewn on the coffee table, supposedly to start a night of gaming. Noct found himself shuffling quickly in his socks over to the couch. He plopped down a little too close to Prompto and, with his arms on autopilot, let himself curl around Prompto in a close hug.  
  
But Prompto made a panicked noise in his throat and squirmed away, holding Noctis's arms away at length.  
  
"What's wrong?" Noct whined and struggled against the grip, but not enough to break it.  
  
"You... you're sure this is ok?" Prompto's voice was quiet, almost strained, very unlike the cheery tone he'd had throughout the day.  
  
"Why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"Dude," Prompto coughed, dropping Noctis's arms as he let his own arms crumple into his lap. He didn't resist when Noct reached out again and practically draped himself over his shoulder. "I mean... I kind of, yknow... I _kissed_ you."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Doesn't that make this kind of awkward?"  
  
"No? Why would it?"  
  
"I..." He bit his lip, his head turning, enough that his forehead brushed against Noctis's fringe, his breath ghosting over his face. "I don't know if I can stop myself from doing it again."  
  
The air felt tight again, time slowing to a crawl, the world around him blurring until the only thing he could focus on was Prompto. A hand found his cheek and he leaned into it, a shuttering breath ruffling his overgrown bangs.  
  
"I didn't really mind," he said finally, his eyes darting down to Prompto's mouth before meeting his gaze again.  
  
"So, it's ok?" His mouth had gotten a hair closer.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
The word had just enough time to pass through his lips before they were pressed against Prompto's, and a shiver shook through him in relief. It was such a different type of relief than getting hugs when he needed it, he knew that now. This was something that couldn't possibly have a name, a type of hunger that wasn't about skin at all, but all about Prompto and only Prompto.  
  
And satiating that hunger this way was so _good_. The way Prompto leaned in to get a better angle, the impossible softness of his lips and how they worked against his, almost like he was trying to satisfy a hunger, too. He brought in a sharp breath through his nose as his nerves suddenly sparked in strange and unfamiliar ways, and he all but threw his arms around Prompto's neck; Prompto, in turn, hummed against his mouth, his lips parting to let out a rather loud breath, almost like he was overworked from a morning jog.  
  
The hand on his cheek found its way into his hair, another hand working its way around to his back, and Prompto yanked him forward, crushing their lips together and consuming the whine that escaped. His heartbeat roared in his ears as he found himself mirroring Prompto's movements, catching on quickly to how to move his lips to get the sensation he wanted. And, just like last time, his control slipped away, and he found himself pulling at blond hair, anything to somehow get more.  
  
More of what, he had no idea. But he wanted it.  
  
A hand found his cheek again, urging his jaw open, and in their haste their teeth clashed, but Prompto didn't seem deterred, shifting his weight and his hand against his back to pull Noct toward the back of the couch, where they could lean comfortably.  
  
Something licked at Noct's lips, almost cautiously, and he pulled back a little, mostly to catch his breath. His eyes widened as he realized just how out of breath he was, and he looked up to see Prompto flushed, his breathing just as heavy, eyes focused intensely on his.  
  
"Was that too far?" Prompto asked softly, his voice more of a growl.  
  
"No, I..." Noct thought for a moment. "I... I like it."  
  
Prompto smiled then, and Noctis's chest swelled; he hadn't realized before just how much Prompto seemed to glow when he smiled. He leaned forward, and he would've missed if not for the guiding hand at his cheek, and initiated a soft and chaste kiss that still overwhelmed him so quickly and suddenly that Prompto had to use both hands to pull him away for air. They leaned their foreheads together, chuckling breathlessly into each other's faces.  
  
"Maybe we should slow it down a little," Prompto suggested on a laugh, running his hand through raven black hair.  
  
"Yeah, maybe," Noctis laughed back, his voice breathless to his ears.  
  
Their lips met again, softer and gentler this time, Prompto taking the opportunity to caress Noctis's face, and Noct found himself smiling against Prompto's impossibly-soft lips. Seriously, it was so unfair.  
  
They didn't part for awhile, little soft kisses peppering their lips as they whispered softly to each other, Noct feeling an emotion he hadn't felt in so long, he'd forgotten the name for it. It could've been happiness, but it felt like more than that.  
  
A key turning the lock in the door cued them to separate, but not completely, and Ignis walked into the room while the two of them cuddled on the couch. Noctis was already dozing off, his face ghosted over with relaxation.   
  
Prompto cleared his throat, looking up at Ignis with a nervous grin.  
  
"All worn out, I see?" Ignis smirked, taking special note of the obvious blush that spread over Prompto's fair complexion.  
  
"I guess so?" Prompto replied a bit weakly, his voice hoarse.  
  
Ignis adjusted his glasses, and allowed a small smile to grace his face, something that seemed to do its job of stunning Prompto into silence. Satisfied, he turned his attention to the kitchen, not before dropping the latest reports for Noct on the table. He rolled up his sleeves and ran the tap, washing his hands thoroughly in the sink, having to dodge dirty dishes as he did so.  
  
"Then I'll leave it to you to wake him up for supper, yes?"  
  
Prompto was quiet for a moment, and Ignis didn't have to look up to know that he was being watched intently, perhaps with curiosity.  
  
"Sure thing, Iggy," came the relieved reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes this is happening


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto admits some things, Noctis realizes some things, and Ignis reads some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I was using chapter titles, this one would be called Ellipsis Hell.

The next several weeks held high and lows for all third year students, what with the stress of finals compounded with the stress of entrance exams and trying to figure out just what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. Well, except for Noctis; he didn't exactly have a choice in his life's path, with the threat of the throne ever closer as finals came and went, with winter break giving him at least some form of reprieve, where he could hide in his flat most of the time with the person he _chose_ to be with: Prompto.  
  
Well not _with_ with Prompto. Just to cuddle. And nap together. And have sleepovers in his bed. And kiss a little. Or a lot. Still not a _with_ with situation.  
  
And so on a crisp night, with New Year's just around the corner, they found themselves in front of Noct's TV watching a historical fantasy film, something Gladio had suggested at training. What he failed to mention was the romantic drama unfolding in the film's subplot, where two lovers were torn from each other early on by a war and political obligations. Also early on, Prompto had wrapped his arm around Noctis, pulling him in close to his side, leaning his cheek against dark hair.   
  
As the film's plot progressed, so did the lovers' desire for each other, and it came to a head as all hell broke loose around them. Noctis bit his lip just as they came together in a fit of misguided passion, and he turned his head up toward Prompto's face, meeting blue eyes in the process. A hand found his face and caressed down his cheek, which he leaned into and hummed, his eyes sliding closed.  
  
Prompto drew their lips together then, his fingertips sliding along Noctis's jaw to guide his chin upward. It was slow, lazy almost, though the sparks spreading out over his nerves had all but turned the sound from the TV into a low hum of high and low tones. Teeth sank into his bottom lip and his back arched, so much so that he almost broke contact entirely by accident, which wasn't anywhere near what he wanted.  
  
A tongue lapped at his lips and, instead of shying away from it, he welcomed it, tentatively following the same path with his own tongue. He pulled in a sharp breath through his nose as Prompto tightened his hand on the back of his neck, thumb holding his jaw in place as their tongues slid together. Prompto was doing most of the work, since Noctis really didn't know what he was doing, but he did his best to mimic and adapt to the motions, earning a guttural and throaty moan for his efforts.  
  
Their mouths separated for the moment, Prompto breathing heavily into his face, his eyes in shadow from disheveled golden bangs. He crashed their lips together again, his free hand sliding up Noct's back and holding him gently as he pressed forward. Noctis felt his head hit the couch cushions as he landed on his back, his eyes opening just enough to see a blur of gold above him before teeth scraped against the side of his neck. He jumped and let out a startled gasp, which evened out into a soft sigh as lips, _Prompto's_ lips, soothed the small bite with gentle kisses.  
  
The grip on his neck and jaw loosened and then vanished, and Noctis took the opportunity to crash their lips together again. Well, try to, anyway; he missed, only managing mouth at Prompto's cheek. With a breathy and almost beautiful laugh, Prompto slid their lips together, pressing down into the kiss with much more force than he had before, almost as if he was trying to consume him.  
  
Noctis broke the kiss with a throaty gasp, sparks flashing along his nerves and vision as something pressed flat against the front of his pajama pants, right over where his cock lay hard and wanting.  
  
Wait, he was hard? When did that happen?  
  
He just barely identified the pressure as Prompto's hand when it slid upward, stroking him through his clothes. His hips bucked into that hand, mostly of their own accord, his breath coming out in a deep groan. Prompto's hand moved a bit faster, but without too much pressure, and the room blurred out around him as his entire body trembled with the overwhelming sensations.  
  
It was too much.  
  
"Prom... Prompto--" Teeth sank into his earlobe and he gasped, his nerves so overcome that he seriously thought he might pass out.  
  
His hand found Prompto's shoulder and, with as much focus as he could scrape up, he pushed at it, freeing his ear and catching the gaze of blown-out pupils in the process. The hand stilled, and Prompto hovered, slow blinks that slowly brought out the clarity in his eyes again. He glanced back at his hand, then back at Noctis's face, and his expression changed for a flickering moment before he let out a strangled noise from his throat, pulling his hand away so quickly it was almost as if it had warped.  
  
"Shit, Noct, I was-- I mean--" he stammered, his face flushed much more than it had been a few seconds prior, if that was even possible. He sank back onto his knees, averting his gaze away to hide under his hair again. "Sorry."  
  
"Prom?"  
  
"I got carried away, I'm sorry." His voice cracked. "I.. I can go, if it was too much, y'know, I don't want to--"  
  
"Prom." Noctis sat up, reaching out a tentative hand for Prompto's hair, gently stroking it out of the way. "Stay with me?"  
  
Blue eyes, the color of sylleblossoms, met his.  
  
"It's okay?"  
  
"Of _course_ it is."  
  
A smile, then a gentle and chaste kiss, before Prompto drew his arms around Noctis's shoulders and pulled him back in close to cuddle. He focused his eyes on the TV, and Noctis did as well, but he couldn't shake off the intensity of... whatever that was. It felt so different than when he did it himself, and even then it had never felt quite like _that_.  
  
Whatever that was, it was weird, and he couldn't pay enough attention to the movie to see the end because of it.

* * *

The new year came and went without incident, Noctis having to attend some boring high-class banquet at the Citadel instead of spending it with Prompto, which was some _bullshit_ , but Ignis didn't seem to think so. In fact, calling it "bullshit" was a good way to upset and offend his father according to Ignis, so of course he said it in front of Regis, too.  
  
His dad just laughed at him. And said something about being young again. He didn't quite catch it because he was so embarrassed. Why? No idea. It's not like it was weird to cuddle and make out with his best friend or anything. He had a problem and that was the solution.  
  
So why was he still so nervous about it?  
  
Regardless, the last few months of school seemed to fly by with Prompto more or less by his side, and before he knew it, they'd graduated. High school was over and soon he'd have to double-down on his royal training, but he'd never felt so _free_.  
  
And, as he found himself walking down one of the school's sidewalks, he looked up to the trees, their blooms shedding petals in the spring breeze, feeling relaxed and calm even without Prompto's touch. It was weird and a bit foreign, but at the same time it was so nice.  
  
"Noct!"  
  
He jolted out of his daze and turned slightly, his lips turning up into a smirk as Prompto jogged up to him.  
  
"We're free, buddy!" Prompto exclaimed, draping his arm across Noct's shoulders. "High school is NOT something I wanna do again!"  
  
"Oh?" Noct said, the smirk still gracing his lips. "You don't wanna relive all those times you kicked my ass at those shooter games?"  
  
"Du~ude," he whined, gently bumping his head against Noct's cheek. "We can do that without having to do _homework_."  
  
Noctis just laughed, leaning his head over to nuzzle his face in golden fluff. Prompto grew silent then, his face pensive as he gazed up the sidewalk. He pulled away slightly, his eyes turning to the trees.  
  
"Something wrong?" Noct asked.  
  
"Nah," Prompto replied, a somewhat sad smile on his face. "It's... This is just the place I finally got up the nerve to talk to you."  
  
"Hadn't you talked to me before?"  
  
"Yeah, but we were like... kids. And I don't wanna think about that."  
  
"Ok?"  
  
Prompto went silent again, his eyes meeting the sidewalk. Noctis followed his gaze, but saw nothing but cement, instead looking back to Prompto's face, and how his freckles were just so much like stars, that he could get lost in them so easily, and how they framed his eyes, eyes that looked so much like sylleblossoms.   
  
Beautiful. That was the word for them, and for Prompto. He was so beautiful, and Noctis was so lost in admiration that the realization didn't hit him for a few moments, and when it did, his eyes went wide and he froze, gaining a questioning look from Prompto when he finally stopped staring at the sidewalk.  
  
"You okay there, Noct?" he asked, his eyes concerned, but bright, and soft, and so nice to just stare into.

_What even is this?_  
  
"Ye...Yeah, I'm fine," he managed to reply. "I just... I..." The words got lost, so he just tried to talk and hope it was what he meant. "Your eyes look nice in this light."  
  
Ok, that was _way_ too much like what he meant.   
  
And Prompto didn't reply for a long moment, Noct's stomach dropping as he watched his face go slack, a deep blush spreading under freckles. He pulled away, his own face way too hot, barely managing to pull his gaze away from Prompto's face.  
  
"Nevermind, don't listen to me," he muttered, reaching up to comb his fingers through his bangs. "I have no idea where that came from, so just--"  
  
"Be my boyfriend?"  
  
Noctis froze again, the words only halfway processing themselves in his brain before failing, over and over again. There's no way he heard that right... did he?  
  
"What?" he replied, his voice breaking and he turned to look at Prompto again.  
  
"I mean, since we were just blurting out things we were thinking today, I thought I'd give it a shot." Prompto's gaze was steady, but barely so, the edge of his mouth twitching as he paused. "I've... I've been wanting to ask you for awhile, even before we started kissing and stuff, but I didn't think it was allowed, so..."  
  
"Why wouldn't it be allowed?"  
  
"You know," Prompto waved his hand in the air, "the prince thing?"  
  
"I don't see the problem."  
  
Prompto's lip trembled for a moment and he bit it, as if to try to stop the tremor. He stepped forward a bit and placed his hands on Noctis's face, a palm on each cheek.  
  
"Look, I like you, like _really_ like you, and I have for a long time, and I... I need to know if you like me back." He moved for a moment as if he was going in for a kiss, but stopped short. "So... will you be my boyfriend?"  
  
Something clicked in Noct's mind in that moment, the same thing he'd been trying to process for months now. Even with how close and comfortable with each other they'd gotten in a short time, they _both_ had been nervous still; he'd noticed it in Prompto before, and now, with the slight tremble to his hands on his face, and the way he just barely kept eye contact, looking much like he was scared, at least a little bit.  
  
"I..." his voice failed on the reply, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat, then tried again. "I like you, too."  
  
Prompto perked up a bit, his gaze a bit more steady.  
  
"As a friend, or...?"  
  
"As a... a boyfriend."  
  
There was a beat, and he watched as a strange expression rippled across Prompto's features.  
  
"Is... is that a yes?" His voice was hopeful, still a bit apprehensive.  
  
"Yeah, it's a yes."  
  
Prompto smiled, and wide, his entire face glowing, and Noctis felt himself smile, too, a pure and genuine smile, and Prompto dove in, holding his face as they kissed right there on the sidewalk. They broke away shortly with relieved laughter, leaning their foreheads together as they made plans on where to spend their first night as an official couple.  
  
They chose the usual: Noct's apartment.

* * *

They entered the apartment sometime later, hand-in-hand, giggling just like the teenagers they were. They stopped short as soon as they stepped out of the entry-way, Ignis standing by the table with a plate of pastries.  
  
"Ah, there you two are," he said, a tone of slight admiration in his voice.  
  
Noct's eyes locked onto the plate.  
  
"You made more?!" he blurted out, dropping Prompto's hand to make a bee-line for the table, where Ignis placed them.  
  
"Why, yes," Ignis responded, amused. "I couldn't think of a more appropriate sweet for a celebration."  
  
"What are we celebrating?" Noctis asked off-handedly, already reaching for the top pastry on the plate.  
  
Gladio, seated across the room on the sofa, looked up over his book. Ignis adjusted his glasses, his expression puzzled.  
  
"We're celebrating you two, of course," he stated, gesturing to both Noctis and Prompto.  
  
"Uh, Iggy?" Prompto grinned, but it was nervous.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How... I mean... how do you already know that?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"We haven't told anyone yet."  
  
"Well, you two aren't exactly discreet, especially lately, though I'm not sure how you kept it up so long before now."  
  
"No, I mean, we just started dating a few hours ago?"  
  
Everything in the room stopped, even Noctis's move to eat the pastry in his hand. He looked up at Ignis, who had froze and gone completely pale, his eyes so wide they seemed to be larger than his glasses' frames. Gladio had frozen as well, but not as completely, and before long he broke into a thunderous laugh. Ignis cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses again with a shaky hand as he seemed to use his entire being in an attempt to compose himself.  
  
"Is that so?" he asked, though it seemed rhetorical.  
  
"Yeah?" Noctis replied anyway, taking a bite out of the pastry. It was good, so he ate more.  
  
"Right. Will you excuse me?"  
  
Ignis turned and went straight for the balcony, closing the sliding door behind him. And then, he screamed, seemingly at the sky. Gladio laughed again, having to put his book down on the coffee table.  
  
"What's his problem?" Noctis asked, continuing to eat. "I didn't even tell him these aren't right yet."  
  
"Nah, he's just mad that he owes me 100 bucks," Gladio replied, taking a swig from his beer. "Plus the 50 I already gave him."  
  
He didn't address the puzzling sounds and looks he got in response.

* * *

"That's it."  
  
Ignis picked up the leather-bound tome from the desk in front of him, holding it up to get a closer look at a passage. He read over the passage again, just to be sure, then sat it back onto the desk. He pulled out a small blue notebook, quickly jotting down a few notes before slipping it back into his blazer's pocket. The door opened, the library now not as empty as he was blessed with, and he closed the book, pulling some folders and other miscellaneous paperwork to obscure it. He gathered the pile into his arms and headed in a brisk walk toward a shelf several stacks behind him, reshelving the book he was reading just before Cor stepped into view.  
  
"Hello, Marshal," Ignis greeted him, his tone even and composed. "Did you need me for something?"  
  
Cor looked at the books, then to Ignis, then back to the books.  
  
"Brushing up on Lucian law?" he asked, his stern gaze a tad bit curious.  
  
"I might as well be, if His Highness isn't," Ignis replied without missing a beat, busying his hands by readjusting the stack of folders and papers in his grasp. "Best to be prepared for anything."  
  
"Right," Cor replied, though, if Ignis wasn't mistaken, there was a shadow of doubt in his tone. "Anyway, His Majesty wanted to talk to you. Said you weren't answering your phone."  
  
"My apologies, the battery ran out some time ago. I got too caught up in my reading, I suppose." He adjusted his glasses and walked by Cor, heading for the exit. "I'll head to his study immediately."  
  
"Good, it seemed urgent."  
  
Ignis didn't reply as he stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. He started off in the direction of Regis's office, letting his calm expression fade to one of determination in the barren hall.  
  
_We'll get him out of this, Your Majesty. I'll see to it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update? On MY ao3?
> 
> It's more likely than you think

Prompto let himself into Noctis's apartment, his _boyfriend's_ apartment, toeing his shoes off into a haphazard pile near the door. He hopped up into the main entryway and into the kitchen, a skip in his step as his camera bag found its way onto the dining room table.  
  
"Noct?" he called out, his eyes scanning over the living room area, half-expecting him to be on the couch, but instead found no one. "Weird, Iggy said he had a day off."  
  
He stretched and wandered into the back hallway, peeking around the doorway into Noct's bedroom. He smiled, his shoulders relaxing down as he found a sleeping lump of a prince, his back facing him, curled up under black sheets in the bed. He tip-toed over to it, grinning at the flash of raven hair that spilled over the pillow, the slow rise and fall of a shoulder from deep sleep.  
  
Oh, this was gonna be _good_.  
  
He leaned over, letting some of his weight dig into the mattress with his knee, a hand finding his shoulder, which he gave a gentle squeeze.  
  
"Noct~," he purred, nuzzling his nose down into that dark hair.  
  
Noctis stirred slightly, curling more into himself and attempting to hide his face under the covers in his sleep.  
  
"Hey, you," Prompto whined, giving his earlobe a soft nibble, smiling as he was met with a small whimper.  
  
He tugged at Noct's shoulder, just enough to roll him back a little bit. As his head rolled to the side, his hair fell from where it had been hiding his face, and Prompto beamed at how peaceful and relaxed he looked, even with his brow furrowed, as if the minute daylight filtering in the room was a little too much for him to sleep through soundly. With a smile, Prompto leaned in, softly pressing his lips down onto Noct's, stroking his hand through fluffy strands of hair. Noct began to stir more, a soft hum against his lips, and Prompto opened his eyes just enough to see Noct's flutter open just slightly. A realization reflected in his eyes and he whined, his arms freeing themselves from the covers to cling around Prompto's neck.  
  
_He's so fucking adorable._  
  
Noctis's grip tightened and his lips parted into a broken moan, his fingers carding into Prompto's hair, nails digging into his scalp as he sought out the lips that had awoken him. Prompto leaned into him more, his hand cradling Noct's face as he returned the now-fevered kiss. He couldn't believe sometimes that Noctis was so inexperienced, not when he did things like this, where he kissed him with such force and hunger that he felt as if he might be devoured.  
  
Though, it's not like he wasn't doing the same thing. The desperation was real.  
  
He finally got the willpower to pull away, the taste of Noctis still on his lips and so very tempting to partake in again. Noct whined at him, leaning up, seeking him out in a sleepy haze. He smiled, sliding his thumb up to run it along Noctis's bottom lip.  
  
"Morning," he cooed in jest; it was the mid-afternoon. "Have you been in bed all day like this?"  
  
"No," Noctis groaned in response, shifting his weight around enough so he could sit up without headbutting Prompto by accident. "Didn't sleep much last night. Weird dreams."  
  
"What kinda weird dreams?" His voice was teasing.  
  
"I don't... really remember." He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "How was work?"  
  
"Fine, but..." Prompto smirked, his eyes lighting up. "I wasn't at work today."  
  
"Then where were you?"  
  
"Well..." He let his voice trail off, building the suspense. "I've been meaning to tell you for awhile, but I wanted to wait until it was official." He grasped Noct's hands between his own, looking up to meet blue eyes. "I got accepted into Crownsguard training."  
  
"What?" Several emotions flashed over Noctis's face at once, so quickly Prompto didn't catch them. "I didn't know you wanted to do that."  
  
"Yeah, well, yknow... I wanted to be more than just the prince's boyfriend." He looked away and shrugged, even as Noctis tried to lean toward him, probably needy for kisses again. "Turns out I'm not just good with arcade guns," he grinned. "That 'marshall' guy grilled me for like 15 minutes because he didn't believe that I had zero training and that I learned from video games."  
  
"But..." Noct's voice was muted, almost sad. Shouldn't he be happy? "What about your photography stuff? You got accepted to that college program and everything, even had that internship."  
  
Oh, right.  
  
"I'm not giving up on that or anything," he replied, letting out a nervous laugh. "I dunno, I guess I'm pushing that dream back in favor of something right in front of me." He stole a glance at Noctis's face, who had the most heart-breakingly-cute expression on his face: he looked almost devastated. "Whoa, what's that look for?!"  
  
"I..." Noct's voice trailed off, his eyes darting away. "Why now?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, why are you suddenly wanting to be part of the Crownsguard?"  
  
"Is it that much of a surprise?"  
  
"A little." Noctis looked down at their hands, still entwined in his lap. "You never seemed to care much for all the royal stuff. It's... part of why I like you so much."  
  
Prompto's face went hot, but his heart twinged at those words. He worried at his lip, letting the silence linger a bit. He pulled his hands away from Noctis's, running them through his own hair instead.  
  
"It's... I don't really care that it's a royal thing," he replied quietly. "I've been thinking about applying for awhile now, especially with all the time we've been spending together, alone..." He sighed. "If something happens, I don't wanna wait around for Iggy and Gladio to bail us out."  
  
Noctis didn't reply, just kept that same solemn gaze at his hands.  
  
"I just want to be able to protect you, that's all."  
  
"You think I can't do that myself?" Noct's voice was almost cold, biting, and Prompto could see the tension spread across his shoulders; usually that happened right before he dove in for a hug. "I'm not helpless, Prom. Gladio makes sure of that like five times a week."  
  
"That's not it at all!" Prompto responded, hurriedly, leaning in toward Noctis's face again, caressing his cheek with one hand, which Noctis didn't pull away from or lean into. "Look, it's more about... _I_ don't want to be the helpless one. I'd feel like total garbage if something happened and you were the one protecting _me_ , so..." He leaned his forehead against Noct's, relieved at the soft sigh that dusted across his face. "I just wanna feel like I'm doing something, Noct. Like I'm not the odd one out anymore."  
  
"But you _have_ been doing something." Noctis's breath ghosted over Prompto's lips as he spoke, sending a soft shiver down his back.  
  
"Making out with you isn't what I mean."  
  
"Not what I mean, either." Hands found Prompto's face and he tensed slightly. "Remember last year when I was acting 'mopey' around you?"  
  
"Kinda hard to forget," he replied with a small laugh.  
  
"Well you didn't exactly have to put up with it. But you did, and you humored me."  
  
"I just did what anyone would've done."  
  
"No, you did what _you_ would've done, and only you."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Goddammit, Prom." Noct's voice cracked on his name, his lips brushing Prompto's just barely. "No one else could've done what you did. Not Specs, not Gladio, just you."  
  
"I'm... not that special."  
  
"You are to me."  
  
The heat in Prompto's face spread quickly to his chest, his eyes wide as he pulled away from Noctis's face just enough to look into his eyes properly. Eyes that were stern and confident, but also somehow exposing a vulnerability he only saw when they were alone.  
  
"I... had Iggy hug me," he continued, averting his gaze for a moment. "And it wasn't nearly the same, like it didn't _work_. But with you..."  
  
"You're happy?"  
  
"Yeah." His eyes locked onto Prompto's again. "More than I've been in ages."  
  
Prompto's breath left him in a stuttering sigh, his jaw trembling. Before he realized what he was doing, he dove forward, hands on Noctis's shoulders to push him down into the mattress, his mouth seeking out lips that had lingered just out of reach for far too long.

* * *

Noctis wasn't exactly sure what he said, but whatever it was, it got him stripped down to just his boxers, with Prompto in a similar state of undress, wandering hands caressing over expanses of skin. Prompto's skin was so _soft_ , and he couldn't stop himself from exploring the texture and taste with his lips and even his tongue, his uncertainty out with his inhibitions the moment a hand had traced the outline of his cock through his underwear.  
  
Prompto cupped him now, adding just enough pressure to be a tease about it, causing him to buck right up into his hand. Lips by his ear let out a puff of air, and a small groan followed as Noct sank his teeth into a freckled shoulder.  
  
"You ok with this?" Prompto asked, his voice low and husky, his grip tightening for a moment as if to punctuate his question.  
  
"Yeah," Noct replied, breathless, letting out a whine as the grip loosened again. "But... what about you?"  
  
"What do you think?" Lips mouthed at his ear, his voice a near-whisper. "You have hands."  
  
Another whine, and then he wasn't even wearing boxers anymore (neither of them were), and if not for the blanket draped over him and just how lost in Prompto he was, being so exposed should've been agony. But it wasn't; he welcomed it, just as he welcomed that hungry mouth back to his own, letting them consume him, teeth scraping at his bottom lip. A hand tangled in his hair, squeezing into a fist, the slight sting sending a wave of heat right down to his cock in Prompto's hand.  
  
He fumbled around with his hand that wasn't clawing at the sheets for dear life, running his hand down a taut abdomen that felt just _so_ nice under his fingertips. He felt the tickle of hair, then finally his palm found the velvet skin of Prompto's cock; he paused. This wasn't his own dick, it was _Prompto's,_ and his instincts screamed contradictory information at him. Should he just grab it? Go slow and thumb over the head a bit beforehand?  
  
"Noct," Prompto breathed, his voice interrupting the sudden onslaught of thoughts. "Lube in the nightstand?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, yeah, top drawer."  
  
Prompto moved away for the moment, leaning over Noctis to pull open the drawer, giving him a full view of his chest right down to his hard cock, a bead of precum already forming on the tip. He licked his lips, wanting so badly to just sit up and _lick_ it for some reason. He leaned up just barely and his lips parted, reaching out toward the cock that was all but in his face.  
  
It moved away from him, Prompto having fetched the bottle of lube he kept stashed away in his drawer for his nights alone like this. Noctis let his head fall back onto the pillows, head spinning with lust and the vague realization that he just tried to initiate a blowjob out of nowhere, without even knowing how to do it. The soft _pop_ of the bottle's lid, along with the soft squelching of lube spreading across a hand and fingers indicated that they were really going through with this.  
  
Noct's heart raced in his chest, his eyes a haze, just barely able to focus on Prompto when he motioned to him.  
  
"Hold up your hand," he said, and Noctis did so, jumping slightly when the cold lube spilled onto his palm sooner than he expected.  
  
He spread it across his hand and fingers, much like he would if he was going to jack himself off, rubbing it around to warm it up while Prompto did the same; Prompto finished first, and Noctis let out a gasp that echoed off the walls when something warm and slippery that was very much _not_ his own hand wrapped around his cock.  
  
"Good?" Prompto asked, giving his cock a few testing strokes.  
  
"Ye-Yeah," Noctis wheezed, already feeling his back trying to arch. "Though I'm not exactly sure how you wanna do this."  
  
Prompto grinned and leaned in close to his ear again, breathing on it for a few moments, letting his teeth rake against the lobe.  
  
"Do it like you're jacking yourself off. Trust me."  
  
Noctis's eyes widened, his cock twitching in Prompto's hand. He swallowed, then reached out for that inviting cock again, gripping it and moving immediately into slow, firm strokes, whining when Prompto did the same, mirroring the pressure and speed. He lost focus, his nerves sparking with such intense pleasure at something that usually only started getting him into it, and his own hand slowed for a moment.  
  
"Don't stop," Prompto breathed by his ear, nibbling on his earlobe. "Keep going, just like you would hand-fuck yourself."  
  
He whined again, the noise leveling out into a moan as he started up again, this time keeping his rhythm as Prompto matched it. Warmth coiled in his gut, and on reflex he sped up slightly, tightening his grip in proportion to the speed of his strokes, twisting just slightly on the upstroke at the head. Prompto groaned low in his throat, his hips thrusting into his hand as Noct leveled out the speed, his own body squirming and outright sweating as the hand on his own cock matched his movements stroke for stroke. He panted, trying to focus on what his own hand was doing, tightening up the grip again and moving faster, longer, until he had Prompto's entire length passing through his hand with each and every stroke.  
  
And Prompto matched that, and his teeth sank into Noctis's neck, right at his pulse point, and he cried out, the hand squeezing and rubbing his cock as he bucked into it moving even faster and harder before he did the same, and all it took was one more rumbling groan by his ear for him to cum and hard, arching up off the bed and into Prompto's hand, who didn't stop or slow down, milking his cock for every last drop that he could squeeze out of him, their chests painted with the fluid, droplets most likely on the sheets around him.  
  
He managed to keep his hand moving somehow, even in the white-hot euphoria of his orgasm, when suddenly Prompto's other hand clawed into his lower back, lifting him off the bed as he whined desperately into his ear. Splashes of warm liquid hit his stomach and chest, mixing with the cum that already stained them, all the while Prompto just pulled him into a tight embrace, his arms shaking as he rode it out.  
  
The wave passed, and Prompto released Noctis gently, falling onto his side next to him. Noctis sighed, still breathing heavily, his mind fogged over with bliss; masturbating never felt _that_ good.  
  
Arms enveloped him, and Prompto pulled him in close to his chest, lips pressing into his forehead.  
  
"Did you have fun?" he asked, a cheeky and blissed out tone in his voice.  
  
"Yeah," Noctis replied, breathless, nuzzling his face into a warm shoulder. "It was awesome."  
  
"Good," he replied on a laugh. "I liked it, too."  
  
Laying there for a few moments, basking in the afterglow, the cum on Noctis's chest suddenly felt very _gross_. He shifted his weight in Prompto's arms, uncomfortable, and whined as the arms around him tightened.  
  
"Don't you wanna shower?"  
  
"Maybe later," came the cheery reply. "I'm comfy."  
  
Noctis laughed on a sigh, and soon they fell asleep in each other's arms, in the middle of the afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I owed some conclusion to the tension from last chapter. Also Prompto was SUFFERING.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If abusing semi-colons was a crime then I'd be locked up forever

The wind was nice, a soft contrast of cool breeze on his face and through his hair from the blistering heat of their last rest stop for gas. His left hand rested on the steering wheel, only enough to keep the car straight on the unfamiliar roads. He sighed, staring out at the expanse of, well, next-to-nothing; rock formations and dots of farms were all he could really see.   
  
Life beyond the wall was bleak, and Noctis missed the city already. He only had his birthday present, this two-seater sports car, to remind him of the place he left behind.  
  
He glanced over at Prompto, who, by contrast, was having the time of his life. His face lit up whenever wildlife would pass by, a smile so bright it rivaled the sun that almost scorched them an hour before. His spiked-up hair fluttered in the breeze where the hair wax didn't touch it, framing his face in such a mesmerizing way that Noctis didn't have a word for it.   
  
Without warning, Prompto leaned up out of his seat, gesturing at something near the road.  
  
"Dude! Chocobos!" he shouted, so suddenly that Noctis immediately turned his sight back on the road in front of them.  
  
"Where?!" Noctis gasped, eyes searching the road. "I don't see anything!"  
  
"No, dude, the sign!"  
  
He looked toward the edge of the road, and a yellow sign appeared, as if from nowhere.   
  
"'Wiz Chocobo Post'?" he read, trying his best to keep his eyes on the road at the same time. "'Next right.'"  
  
"Yeah, dude! Can we? Pleeease??"  
  
"We got time?"  
  
"There's not just gonna be one ferry over there," Prompto scoffed, turning in his seat toward Noctis, who was still very much trying to drive, but not had a cute boy in his face. "We have all day to get to our hotel, so we can't pass up CHOCOBOS."  
  
"You do have a point," Noctis muttered. He smirked, then eased the car into a right turn at the next road.  
  
"Woo-hoo!" Prompto cheered, hanging over the the passenger-side door to look out past the windshield. "Cho-co-bos!"  
  
_"In 100 meters, make a u-turn,"_  the car's GPS squawked.  
  
"Nah, later," Noctis replied, stealing another glance at Prompto's face lit up with excitement.   
  
More yellow signs emblazoned with chocobos came up along the roadside, more than he'd expect, honestly. Red-trimmed white signs with black chocobo silhouettes also came into view a few times, with "CHOCOBO CROSSING" posted below them at times.  
  
Must be a big deal around here.  
  
Trees came into view ahead of them, a whirring sound of some kind of engine humming above them.  
  
"Do you hear that--" Noctis started, interrupted by Prompto.  
  
"Dude! It's the Chocobo Forest! We're almost there!"  
  
Six, he was just so _excited_ , and Noctis just smiled and laughed, pulling the wheel sharply to the left when he almost ran off the road.  
  
"Careful, Noct!" Prompto laughed, still leaning out of the car.  
  
"Not my fault."  
  
"You're the one driving!"  
  
"Yeah, but you're the one distracting me."  
  
Prompto fell silent, and Noct just barely caught the blush under freckles out of the corner of his eye. A sunshine laugh, then a punch hit his shoulder, the sound of Prompto sliding back into his seat barely audible over the wind from the open top.  
  
"Save the romance for Altissia," Prompto joked from beside him.  
  
"But I don't wanna wait."  
  
Prompto's hand slid into his free hand, their fingers intertwining on the center console.  
  
"So, Noct, I--" his voice cut out for a split second, "LOOK OUT!"  
  
Without thinking, he slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching on the road's surface as he cocked the wheel into a slide. He stopped short of the hazard in front of them, the whirring sound louder than it was before, even though he hadn't heard it for some time. Several meters ahead, a group of humanoid figures stood in the center of the road, blocking all progress.  
  
Noctis growled under his breath, cutting the engine and hopping out of the car immediately, his Engine Blade phasing into existence.  
  
"What're these things doing here?" he grumbled, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.  
  
"What are those?" Prompto asked somewhat rhetorically.  
  
"MTs."  
  
Prompto hopped out of the car just as Noctis rounded the hood, falling into formation beside him, both set at angles, both of their respective weapons drawn.  
  
"Thought we were still in Lucis...?" Prompto's voice was strained, but stern.  
  
"So did I."  
  
Their eyes met, and unspoken words of love passed between them as they nodded in solidarity. Noctis turned his eyes forward and threw his sword, warping to the first trooper just as Prompto's revolver cracked with rapid fire shots beside him. His sword shattered the trooper's face plate on impact, sparks of electricity and a black mist erupting from behind the shards. Still airbone, he rolled to the side, delivering a finishing blow just as the MT to the right went down from Prompto's gunfire.  
  
He warped to the next MT within sight, only managing to damage its arm, phasing out of the way of its sword just as he felt the breeze of the swing on his face; he had to have lost a few hairs in the process. He backflipped out of the way of another swing, warping once again to strike its face, shattering it this time. The MT fell to the asphalt on its back, and with a downward strike of his sword, it shattered into pieces, a high-pitched wail piercing his ears as the black smoke erupted forth.  
  
_Didn't notice THAT the first time._  
  
Lost in his contemplation, he looked up just in time to see glowing red eyes and a gun barrel pointed directly at him, gunshots firing out before he could move. The MT fell, and a hand grabbed him and threw him backward. He slid into a kneel, looking up at Prompto in front of him.  
  
"Not the time to be spacing out, dude!" he called back, firing on the last MT from the back. "Ready?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He tumbled forward, bracing his shoulder as Prompto hopped up and over him, firing shots into the MT's back and head. It shuddered, its arms malfunctioning much like a human seizure. Noctis darted forward just as Prompto landed, thrusting his blade clean through its back.   
  
It fell as he drew back, landing with a clattering of metal pieces on the road. Another scream, and it exploded into nothing. Panting, he let his sword disappear into white-blue light, turning his attention on Prompto, who stood motionless, staring down at the remnants of black on the road where the last MT disappeared.  
  
"You good?" Noct asked.  
  
No reply. He walked toward him, placing a gentle hand on Prompto's shoulder. He got a better look at his face this time, taking in a sharp breath; he was so pale, the freckles much more pronounced than usual, his bottom lip trembling.  
  
"Prom?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah?" Prompto responded finally, turning his head toward Noctis, but not looking directly at him. "I'm okay, yeah."  
  
"You sure...?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean..." His voice trailed away, eyes moving to linger at that spot on the road again. "Just too much adrenaline, I guess."  
  
Noctis let his hand slide up into the hair at the nape of Prompto's neck, stroking through it gently, if only to pretend his hadn't felt how tense his shoulders were.  
  
"Chocobos?" Prompto asked, his voice weak.  
  
"Yeah, chocobos."  
  
He turned back toward the car, guiding Prompto with him. They started walking toward it, but only got a few steps forward before Prompto stopped dead.  
  
"Noct..."  
  
"What?"  
  
His eyes focused on the car in front of him, and his stomach dropped.  
  
"Shit," he hissed, running his free hand through his bangs.  
  
Both tires on the side facing them were flat, all the way to the ground.

* * *

"Yeah, that's fine. Thanks Cindy."  
  
Noct's phone beeped twice as the call ended, and he locked his phone. He slid it onto the table, slouching into his chair with a slide.  
  
"You gettin' a tow out here?"  
  
He looked up to see Wiz join him at the shaded outdoor table, taking the seat across from him.  
  
"Yeah, Cindy's coming from Hammerhead to pick it up."  
  
"That's quite the drive."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He turned his gaze on his car, the Star of Lucis, riddled with bullets on one side, two donut tires in place of the flat ones on that same side. The car looked imbalanced, but at least it was drivable for a short distance, where it was now parked in the grass.  
  
"Thanks for helping us, by the way."  
  
"It's just changin' some tires, son," Wiz laughed. "Besides, it was worth it to see someone so taken with my birds."  
  
Noctis looked over to the chocobos at that point, where Prompto held out green leaves to one of them. It was a perfect match: blond spiky-haired Prompto and a yellow chocobo, the chocobo's tail feathers falling exactly how he had styled his hair. Noct chuckled to himself, leaning onto his hand to prop it up on the table. Prompto nuzzled into the feathers around the bird's neck, which was too adorable for words.  
  
"So, where you two headed?" Wiz asked, a wry smile on his face.  
  
"Altissia," Noctis responded without thinking, his face flushing over with warmth.  
  
"Kinda out of the way over here, don't you think?"  
  
"Prompto wanted to see the chocobos. Didn't expect Niflheim to be out here, though."  
  
"Surprised me, too." Wiz leaned back in his chair, stealing a glance toward the road. "Don't really get news fast out here, so if there's been an invasion--" He paused, sitting back up. "Ain't that a city car?"  
  
Noct turned his head sharply toward the road, a black car pulling up and stopping in the dirt drive of the chocobo post. It had silver trim along the front, and a characteristic matte black grill. He stood from his chair, knocking it backwards.  
  
"Dad?" he blurted out, not hearing Wiz call after him as he jogged over to the car.  
  
The driver's door opened, and instead of his father, Ignis stepped out of the driver's seat, followed by Gladio on the passenger side.   
  
"What are you guys doing here?" Noctis asked. "Thought this was supposed to be me and Prompto's getaway week?"  
  
"That's changed," Gladio replied, his voice low.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Noct..." Ignis breathed. "Something's happened."  
  
Noctis glanced around, trying to see into the back seat, but saw no one, panic setting into his chest. Ignis's solemn gaze on him didn't help things.   
  
"It's just the two of us," Gladio said, as if reading his thoughts.   
  
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?!"  
  
"Insomnia is gone," Ignis replied, his voice thick.  
  
At those words, images flashed into Noctis's mind: magitek ships, much like the one that dropped soldiers on them before, floated above Insomnia. The magic wall was gone, smoke billowing from the citadel and the surrounding areas. Large lanky-legged daemons chased after citizens, soldiers in Kingsglaive uniforms laying dead on the floors of the citdel. And his father---  
  
"No..." Noct gasped, stepping back.  
  
"I'm sorry," Ignis murmured, averting his gaze. "We only just managed to make it out with the other evacuees. His Majesty stayed behind."  
  
Noct's breathing quickened, shallow breaths barely reaching his lungs as his chest tightened down. He stumbled backward a few steps, only stopping when a hand pressed against his back. His own hand found his face, fingers trembling as they ran back through his bangs, coming away damp with sweat. His eyes stung, more dampness streaming down his face-- _definitely not sweat_ \-- and he turned into the arm that held him, wrapping his arms around Prompto, and sobbed.  
  
"Hey..." Prompto breathed near his ear, but said nothing more, a comforting hand stroking through raven hair.

* * *

The Regalia pulled out of the parking lot of the Hammerhead outpost, Cindy waving from in farewell from behind the Star of Lucis. The sun had just started to rise over the horizon, and Noctis pulled away from the window to lay down on the backseat, his head resting on Prompto's lap. Silence gripped the inside of the car, save for the purr of the Regalia's engine, Ignis keeping his eyes on the road, Gladio in the passenger seat with a novel he'd managed to bring with him... somehow.  
  
A hand found his hair again, and he closed his eyes against the soft strokes, allowing his breathing to even out. He couldn't sleep, not the night before and not now, but he could at least relax against Prompto's caresses. He could barely feel the car make slow turns, Ignis's careful driving so hypnotising that he probably _should_ have been able to sleep.  
  
After an unknown amount of time, the silence was broken by Prompto clearing his throat with a cough.  
  
"So, is Altissia gonna be safe, you think?" Prompto asked, not seemingly aimed at anyone in particular, followed by a few more short coughs.  
  
"It's our only option as of now," Ignis replied, his voice flat.  
  
"As long as no one knows we're heading that way," Gladio grumbled.  
  
"Gladio." Ignis's tone rumbled with an unspoken warning.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Prompto sighed above him, his arm slumping slightly onto his shoulder. His fingers rubbed small circles against his scalp, and Noctis sighed, only barely able to enjoy the sensation. He had just barely opened his eyes again when Gladio closed his book with a loud _flump_ , and Prompto's hand stopped moving at the same time.  
  
"Iggy, pull over!" Gladio said in a rush, his hand pointing toward something through the windshield.  
  
"Is that...?" Ignis's voice trailed off.  
  
"A Glaive."  
  
Noct's eyes opened fully and he sat up, Prompto's hand sliding off his hair in the process. As the car pulled over to the side of the road, he caught a glimpse of two people by the side of the road: one was definitely a woman, with long blond hair, and the other was clad in a Kingsglaive uniform with a feminine build, hood up and back facing them. The Glaive stood with one foot on the ground, mounted on a motorbike, while the other woman stood beside it. They seemed to be having a conversation, but the free-standing woman looked away and toward the car as they pulled to a stop a meter away.  
  
"It can't be..." Ignis murmured.  
  
"What?" Noctis asked.  
  
"Lady Lunafreya," Gladio answered.  
  
"What?!" Prompto yelped. "What's she doing here in Lucis?"  
  
"Good question," Gladio replied. "Hey, Noct-- HEY!"  
  
Noctis had already scrambled out of the car, jogging over to the pair, his eyes locked onto Luna, who met his gaze and smiled, sadly.  
  
"Noctis," she greeted him, warmth in her voice. "What a relief. When I heard the news, I feared the worst."  
  
"Yeah, it's a relief," the Kingsglaive added, her voice low and calm, but with a slight scratchy quality to it.   
  
"Luna," Noctis breathed, searching her face that had so many changes since they last saw each other. "What are you doing out here."  
  
"It's not of any importance," she replied, turning her attention back onto the Glaive. "I'll ride onto Galdin Quay with them if possible. You needn't worry."  
  
"You sure?" came the gravely reply, boots shifting on the gravel shoulder as she rebalanced her bike.   
  
"I think I would be much safer in an enclosed vehicle than exposed on your motorcycle."  
  
"Yeah, you got me there."  
  
"I would like to know where you're heading, Lady Lunafreya, if you don't mind." Ignis stepped up from near the car, stopping at Noctis's side. "We're in a bit of a rush."  
  
"I'm in need of a ride to Galdin Quay," she replied, straighting her neck. "I have transportation waiting for me near the coast there to take me onward to Altissia, where my brother is waiting for me."  
  
"That's perfect," Noctis replied out of turn. "We're heading to Altissia, too."  
  
"Then I will repay you with a ride on my vessel?"  
  
"Yes, that will suffice, I think," Ignis replied, adjusting his glasses.  
  
"Sounds like you guys have that all figured out," the Glaive spoke up, stretching her arms above her head.  
  
"You could follow along with us if you like," Luna suggested.  
  
"Nah, too dangerous." She motioned to her uniform. "Didn't bring anything else to wear, and it's bad enough you're riding in the famous Regalia. Don't need a Glaive following behind." She settled into the seat on the bike, adjusting her hands on the handlebars. "Besides, I've got my own boat waiting near Caem."  
  
She pulled a helmet from the handlebars, where it had been hidden by her torso, and slipped it over her head, clasping the strap under her chin.  
  
"Then I will see you in Altissia," Luna said, giving the Glaive a respectful bow of her head.  
  
"Yeah." She started up the bike, revving the engine a few times, as if testing its integrity. "If you beat me there," she yelled over the engine, "tell Ravus I'm on my way!"  
  
And with that, she sped off down the road, disappearing over the crest of a hill not far into the distance. 

* * *

The ride to Galdin Quay had been slightly uncomfortable, to say the least. Lunafreya had to squish between Prompto and himself in the center of the backseat. Any other day, Noctis wouldn't have minded, but he couldn't even bring himself to speak to her the entire way; she and Prompto seemed happy enough to chat, however.   
  
So it was a good thing that the ride to Galdin seemed to only take a few minutes, Luna urging Prompto out of his side of the car as quickly as possible, with Noctis climbing out of his side not long after. She led them along the beach, past the fishing piers and in the direction of what must have been a haven, where the sand met a cliff. A lone pier jutted out into the water there, out past the shallows, where a mid-sized yacht sat moored, waiting for them.  
  
Lunafreya boarded first, followed by Prompto, then Noctis, with Ignis and Gladio not far behind. She entered the bridge and Ignis followed her, where there was a small squabble about who would take the helm; Ignis lost. Gladio took a seat in the bridge with them, while Prompto and Noctis made their way to the stern, sitting close. Noct let his head fall onto Prompto's shoulder, and Prompto draped his arm across his shoulders, leaning his cheek against raven hair. The yacht started up its engines and pulled away from the pier to go underway, heading away from Lucis under circumstances Noct hadn't planned for.

* * *

Galdin Quay had long disappeared behind them, the sea devoid of land as they headed for Accordo. Noctis had lost track of time, not knowing if it had been a few minutes or a few hours since they left. All he knew was that Prompto's embrace was warm, and they were alone on the yacht's stern, aft of the bridge.  
  
"Sorry," Prompto murmured, nuzzling into his hair. "This isn't the vacation we were hoping for at all."  
  
"Not your fault," Noctis muttered back, closing his eyes. "I just... I don't know what to do now."  
  
"I might."  
  
Noct blinked once, deliberately, then turned his head just enough to look up at Prompto through his eyelashes, through his bangs. A hand found his face, thumb caressing his cheek, drawing him close enough to press his lips softly to Prompto's. He pulled in a sharp breath through his nose, leaning into Prompto's chest before the hand at his lower back could pull him close.   
  
He sought out those lips, his refuge, not even noticing the sea spray anymore. He climbed onto Prompto's lap, straddling him, holding onto his face with both hands as he kissed his grief away.  
  
Somehow, though, just this once, it wasn't enough.

* * *

It all happened so fast.  
  
One moment, he was on the streets of Altissia, looking exactly how he'd seen online and in his textbooks, and the next he was here, with Luna, fighting against the Hydraean; well, he was fighting her from the air, while Luna stood fast on the sea wall, glowing trident in hand. He managed to grab purchase on Leviathan's face with his blade, bracing both feet against her.   
  
"I won't allow the Chosen King to fall to you!" Luna bellowed from the edge of the wall, pointing her trident as a beam of light erupted from its prongs. "Nor this city and its people!"  
  
Leviathan roared, her entire body shuddering. Noctis tried his best to hang on, but the vibrations were too great. His sword disappeared into blue light and he fell, summoning his blade again. He pulled his arm back to throw it, but something slammed into him the side, and he just barely warped out of his tumble onto the sea wall. He rolled, still landing hard, though a few seconds later he regained his balance enough to stand.   
  
He prepared himself to warp again, but paused, his eyes catching a shadow, a familiar shadow, standing not more than ten meters from himself and Luna. It was humanoid, definitely had human features, but through the torrential rain and spray from the turbulent sea, he couldn't make out anything specific, except for a coat billowing in the wind.  
  
"Ravus--?"  
  
The name had just barely passed through his lips before another wall of water hit him full on. His feet slid out from under him and he landed hard on his back, sea water spashing into his eyes and up his nose, and everything went dark blue and blurry, his eyes and nose and throat burning as he slid forward, toward the water. He grabbed behind him, trying to summon a blade, a dagger, _anything_ , but his powers failed him, sending a searing pain through his temporal lobe, his muscles going weak.  
  
Through the roar of water, he heard someone cry out, and turned his head just in time to see an out of focus form tumble over the edge of the wall.  
  
"Luna!" he screamed, reaching out just as he, too, fell over the edge.  
  
And just as he fell over, he stopped, with his arm still outstretched toward Luna as she fell into the water, disappearing amongst the waves. He opened his mouth to scream, to say _anything_ , but all he managed was a trembling jaw. The cold rain and wind bit into him, his breathing growing thin as his skin grew cold and pained. his entire body aching.  
  
_Prompto..._  
  
He could tell without looking up that the one who gripped his arm wasn't Prompto, the cold spreading as he was hoisted up by his arm and onto the seawall, where he landed hard on his back. He coughed, the wind knocked out of him, and water lodged in his throat; he could barely breathe. And that was even more true as something pressed down onto his chest; a boot, it was definitely someone's boot. He squinted up through the rain, recognizing the figure as the one on the wall before, but the face...   
  
It wasn't Ravus. It wasn't anyone he knew at all. And the more he tried to focus on their features, the more they seemed to change.  
  
"Who--"  
  
"If you remember nothing else," they said, their voice like a hundred voices at once, "you're to remember this moment."  
  
His breathing halted, eyes wide, dread weighing him down much more than the boot on his chest. The person's face stopped changing for a split second, just as they had finished speaking, and that second seemed to last for minutes, perhaps longer.   
  
A commotion of voices, and the person's face and figure returned to shadow, and they disappeared in smoke, much like the black mist from the MTs. The weight on his chest remained.

* * *

Sun filtered through the grey clouds, the sea calm now. It'd been an hour since Leviathan had retreated back into the seas, the same hour since those seas claimed Luna's life. He gazed out across the blue-grey water from his seat on the sea wall, surface still rough and choppy.   
  
"I feel like I fucked up somehow," he said, his voice raspy and strained.  
  
"There's nothing that could've been done," Ignis replied from beside him. "One of the Astrals awakening in such a way was... unexpected."  
  
Noctis drew in a breath, closing his eyes to stave off more tears; he didn't deserve to cry anymore. Not now, not when...  
  
Not when what?  
  
"It's over..." someone said on his other side, a vaguely-familiar voice. "We were too late..."  
  
He turned his head toward the voice, seeing the same Glaive from before, sitting in the exact same position as himself, her head lowered, as was her hood. He still couldn't see her face, however, for her dark hair, while short, clung to the sides of her face, as if she'd gotten caught out in the storm. Someone moved behind her, and he looked up to see who could've only been Ravus-- actually Ravus this time-- with a hand on her shoulder, speaking low in his voice so that only she could hear.  
  
"There's no saving it, now," she replied, her shoulders slumping forward.   
  
A hand found his own shoulder, and he turned to look back at Ignis, but froze. Their eyes had met, but not entirely; Ignis's eyes were stark white, his pupils and irises gone, as were his glasses.   
  
"Ignis--!"  
  
"Yes, Noct?" He blinked, and his eyes returned to normal, as did his glasses to his face.  
  
Noctis shook his head, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding.   
  
"We should go."  
  
"Agreed."

* * *

How many days had passed?  
  
Noctis had no idea, nor did he have any idea how he'd ended up back in the Regalia; he could've sworn they left it in Lucis. Well, what used to be Lucis.  
  
But here they were, with Ignis behind the wheel and himself staring out the window in the backseat, nothing but snow, stark white like Ignis's eyes had been, stretching out from beyond the car. The atmosphere inside was quiet, even with Prompto sitting beside him; neither of them had said a word since they left Altissia.   
  
He glanced over at him, then, and his eyes widened. Prompto was slumped against the window, his chest heaving with heavy breaths that he'd somehow managed to keep silent.  
  
"Specs, pull over!" he cried out, pulling Prompto into his arms and out the door into the snow before the car stopped rolling.   
  
Prompto stumbled, barely keeping his footing as Noctis steadied him. He kept his face low, but that didn't hide the black veins going up his neck and along his face, and definitely didn't hide his deathly-pale skin, even against the snow.  
  
"Prom..." Noctis's voice cracked, and his words failed him.  
  
Prompto let out a noise that sounded like it was supposed to be a laugh, but then lurched forward, vomiting black sludge onto the snow. He gasped for breath, black still dripping from his lips, his arms shaking as they braced against his thighs.  
  
"Why didn't you say anything...?" Noctis managed to squeak out.   
  
Prompto tried to laugh again, and met his gaze.  
  
"I'm sorry," he croaked, his voice almost drowned out by Ignis's from the car yelling at them.  
  
Without warning, Noct's vision went black.

* * *

Everything hurt.  
  
That was the first thing Noctis noticed when he opened his eyes. He ached, sharp pains in his legs, his chest, and his head. He tried to move, pushing up on one arm, but, nope, sharp pains in his arms, too. He groaned and collapsed back to the floor, his cheek landing in something wet, almost sticky.  
  
"Oh, come now, you can do better than that."  
  
The voice startled him and he jumped, a ripple of pain traveling down his back from the movement; somehow, he knew he _had_  to get up, and now. He groaned again, only managing to rise up on his knees before collapsing onto his arms again. Something hit him square in his exposed abdomen and he went tumbling sideways, stopping on his back. Pain shot up through his ribs, leaving him writhing on what had to be concrete.  
  
"Didn't expect you to give in so easily."  
  
That voice again.   
  
He sat up, crying out with strained vocal chords as he did so, barely pulling himself to his feet. He gave himself a once-over, gasping at just how much blood covered his arms and hands, his clothes torn and the skin broken and bleeding underneath. Though, it was so dark in this room that it very well could've been black ink.  
  
Panting, he set his eyes on the source of the voice, not surprised when he saw the shadow figure from Altissia standing across from him. And then it wasn't there anymore, and something slammed into his abdomen again, this time below his ribs. He collapsed forward, coughing hard; he tasted metal. The figure paced behind him, something like the clanging of chains as they walked. He struggled to catch the breath that wouldn't come, when more footsteps approached and stopped in front of him. His head rose slowly, and just as he looked up to see who stood in front of him, he froze.  
  
He first saw the glowing red lights, side-by-side, like two eyes, and then the reflection of a gun barrel, and he could just barely make out the multi-chambered cylinder of a revolver. He opened his mouth to call out, to say _anything_ , but a flash and crack of the gun cut him off as it fired. The room went completely dark, and he felt himself fall onto the concrete, even though his body had gone almost entirely numb. He saw nothing, heard nothing, save for a strange warmth spreading somewhere near his head, seeming very far away. He didn't try to move, even floating in the darkness, still aware that he lay prone on some kind of surface, even if he couldn't exactly feel it.   
  
Instinctively, he looked up, not knowing why, but in the distance a blue light shined forth. It grew slowly larger, a silouette around it taking form, the light itself changing hues in the center to add whites, darker blues, and even violet. It drew him in, even as he couldn't move; his hand had outstretched on its own. And, before the light reached him, he blinked and it vanished, replaced by the not-complete-darkness of another room.  
  
He stared forward, aware he was laying on his side, and not on concrete, his eyes locked onto the dark outline of some piece of furniture. His heart pounded in his ears, his breathing matching the rapid beats as he struggled to calm himself, the panic almost overwhelming him. He sat up slightly, no longer in any physical pain, save for his skin absolutely _aching_  and longing for touch, for Prompto.  
  
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, the room finally came into focus: his bedroom, in his apartment, in Insomnia. He took in a deep breath, and loud, running a shaking hand through his damp-with-sweat hair, then ran it down his face. He still couldn't slow his breathing.  
  
Something moved beside him, the covers on the bed rustling.  
  
"Noct...?" came Prompto's voice, rough with sleep.  
  
Noctis didn't get a chance to reply before Prompto pulled him in close against his chest, face nuzzling into his hair.  
  
"Why're you so sweaty?" he whined, running his hands over Noct's arms. "And..." He pulled away, his eyes more focused, more awake. "You're shaking. Are you ok?"  
  
"I... I don't know," he replied, his voice hoarse. "It was just a nightmare." Definitely just a nightmare. "But it was... I didn't know it was, so..."  
  
"Shh, it's okay," Prompto cooed, pressing his lips against Noct's temple. "It wasn't real, none of it happened, ok?"  
  
"Still feels like it did."  
  
Prompto shushed him softly again, sliding down just enough to slide their lips together. He must have been right, because, unlike on the yacht, the electricity sparked through him again, and the hands caressing his skin calmed him, driving away the negative feelings and the aches for Prompto's touch.  
  
It was real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you know those nightmares that feel 100% real, even after you wake up? They suck.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, you guys get a break from angst this chapter, as an apology to whatever happened last time.

The door closed with an ungraceful _thump_  behind Prompto as he slipped off his running shoes in the entryway. He made his way into the kitchen, shaking out his hair that was damp with sweat as he went. Ignis looked up from his cooking for a moment and nodded to him, then went right back to the sizzling breakfast in the skillet.  
  
Dropping the white convenience store bag onto the table, Prompto took his seat after giving the main room a once-over.  
  
"Noct still sleeping?" he asked, leaning back in his chair a bit as he looked toward Ignis.  
  
"Indeed," came the relaxed and somewhat-annoyed reply. "Breakfast is almost ready, so could you attempt to wake him for me?"  
  
"Ah..." Prompto bit his lip, averting his eyes for a moment. "He had kind of a rough night, so..."  
  
"Prompto," Ignis warned, his composure dropping for a split second. "If you're implying what I think you are, then--"  
  
"Iggy!" he squeaked, throwing his head back. "Nothing to do with sex, I promise."  
  
Ignis didn't respond, and kept a steady gaze on Prompto for much longer than was comfortable, and Prompto squirmed in his seat for a moment, fiddling with his phone. When he finally felt the eyes leave him, he let out a small sigh, placing his phone down on the table.  
  
"Hey, Iggy...?"  
  
"Yes?" He didn't look up from the skillet.  
  
"How do you get rid of nightmares?"  
  
"Well, for starters, having a relaxing nighttime routine would help, such as soaking in the bath or drinking hot herbal tea, and doing so at the same time each night. Reducing stress is usually necessary as well." He began placing bacon on the plates set out on the counter. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh, uh, no reason," he stammered, letting out an anxiety-induced chuckle.  
  
"Is it Noct?"  
  
"I... what?"  
  
"I'm certain you would've noticed his chronic nightmares by now." He moved on to the eggs. "And I'm afraid there's not much that can be done."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Well..." Ignis let out a sigh. "When he returned from Tenebrae, he wasn't quite himself, and neither was his sleep schedule. He always loved to nap, but after that, it seemed like it was a necessity." He met Prompto's gaze finally. "Like he wasn't sleeping well at night."  
  
"Oh..." Prompto lowered his head, averting his gaze away. "I... never knew that. So I'm guessing you guys tried everything you could? Medicines, therapy, magic?"  
  
"Yes." He began buttering toast, judging by the scraping sounds that reached Prompto's ears. "They seem to come and go, varying in severity as well." A pause, then some footsteps, and Prompto looked up just in time for his plate to land in front of him on the table, Ignis standing over him. "So, if you wouldn't mind my asking, how have they been as of late?"  
  
"Uh, well.... he doesn't really talk to me about them?"  
  
The smell of the food on his plate almost made him nauseous with how badly he wanted to eat it all in one go.  
  
"He just tells me he had a weird dream or a nightmare and then goes right into cuddle mode, and that's usually the end of it, but..."  
  
He met Ignis's gaze this time, if only to distract himself from breakfast.  
  
"He seemed really shaken up this time, so I think he deserves to sleep in, right?"  
  
Ignis sighed, then adjusted his glasses.  
  
"Very well," he said, surrender in his voice. "I just wish this to not turn into a habit."  
  
"You got it." He turned his attention to the bag on the table, grabbing it and removing a magazine from it. "By the way, I got that gossip magazine you wanted."  
  
"Splendid, I'll pay you back after we eat."  
  
Ignis sat down across from him and began eating, but Prompto still ignored his food, focusing instead on the front cover. He didn't usually go for this celebrity crap, and he definitely didn't have Ignis pegged for it, but people are into what they're into. What caught his eye was the woman pictured on the cover; he vaguely recognized her, but couldn't place where he'd seen her face before. Nothing about her was that distinctive, except that she was pale in the face, she had ice skates over one shoulder, and her hair was dyed a deep metallic blue.  
  
Probably saw her on TV or something. That had to have been it, he realized, as he skimmed over the rest of the cover and found the cover story:  
  
_[From Lucis to Tenebrae and back: Aquila Oculus's exclusive interview with Insomnia Weekly about her retirement and recovery]_  
  
He put the magazine aside and, finally giving in, picked up a piece of his toast and devoured it. The rest of his plate followed suit, and before long he was staring at an empty plate, and still no sign of Noctis.  
  
Time for some small-talk.  
  
"So, you like figure skating, Iggy?"  
  
"Not particularly."  
  
Well, there went that.

* * *

Roughly an hour had passed since breakfast, and Ignis sat now in the King's study in one of the leather-backed chairs that sat in front of the mahogany desk. Regis sat silently, sifting through the papers in his hands, reading and rereading passages, his brow furrowed in concentration; uncharacteristic, but telling of his stress over the situation. Ignis let his eyes wander a moment, catching sight of the copy of Insomnia Weekly he brought in before handing over the report. They must have done some heavy editing on the model's photo, for even professional dyes wouldn't get such dark blue hair so vibrant, at least not in print.  
  
He sensed movement and turned his attention back to Regis, who rearranged the papers and placed them out on his desk in front of him. He folded his hands on the table, then met Ignis's eyes.  
  
"I trust that you're certain you combed through every law you could find?" he asked, his voice stern.  
  
"Yes, I'm certain of it, Your Majesty," he replied, his own tone calm and sure. "Your suspicions were correct: the loophole exists."  
  
"You must understand that much of the council is very old-fashioned, and even something this thorough won't necessarily mean they'll approve of this."  
  
"Their approval isn't necessary. The laws clearly state that an heir must be produced, and that heirs outside of a marriage are permissable. All he would need is a surrogate, so their objections would be horridly unprofessional at best."  
  
"You have a valid point." Regis closed his eyes, worrying at his chin with his hand. "I also worry of how the people will see him, but perhaps I'm not giving them enough credit."  
  
"I worry about that as well, Your Majesty, but I don't wish to dwell on it. I would rather him be happy and have a few citizens disapprove than to deny him that happiness."  
  
"As do I, Ignis."  
  
He reached for the magazine and opened it, flipping through the pages before coming to a stop about halfway through. He stared at the page in silence for a few moments, seemingly reading as Ignis awaited his cue to leave. He didn't usually read the magazines Ignis brought him during meetings, and it was a mystery that he was into them at all. After what seemed like a painful eternity of awkward nothingness, Regis tilted the magazine away and met Ignis's gaze again.  
  
"You said heirs outside of marriage are permissable?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty."  
  
"Did it say anything else?"  
  
"I didn't go too far into the details, I'm afraid, for it wasn't relevant to the situation. However, I did see that, should the King have multiple children, whether within marriage or outside it, tradition stands that the eldest will be the first eligible heir."  
  
"Was that all?"  
  
"I can look into it more if you wish, Your Majesty."  
  
"Please do."  
  
"May I ask why?"  
  
"Simple curiosity, Ignis, nothing more. I'd like to know every angle of this in order to help Noctis."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"You are dismissed."  
  
Ignis did his bows and said his formal farewells before disappearing through the door, leaving Regis alone in his study with a report on succession law and a copy of Insomnia Weekly. He turned his attention back to the glossy pages, running his hand along the text of the interview. He steepled his fingers and stared at the page, letting his mind wander as he lingered on certain questions and answers, piecing together the answer to a question of his own.  
  
He didn't solve it.

* * *

Night had fallen on Insomnia some time ago, what few stars that Prompto could see through the ambient city lights and the wall twinkling above him. He stood on Noctis's balcony, high above the streets, sifting his way through the photos on his camera's SD card. Noctis watched over his shoulder, two mugs of coffee in hand, unsure if Prompto had noticed him yet.  
  
_Click._  
  
A landscape of the train station near the Citadel.  
  
_Click._  
  
An action shot of Gladio and Cor sparring it out in the training room.  
  
_Click._  
  
Another action shot of Gladio and Cor, but Gladio is glaring at the camera.  
  
_Click._  
  
A blurry selfie with Gladio in the background, lunging toward Prompto as he throws up a peace sign.  
  
"That one's great," Noctis said with a laugh, and continuing to laugh when Prompto jumped a little. He hadn't been seen yet, apparently. "Use that one as your cover photo."  
  
"Nah, I only use my favorite one for that," Prompto retorted.  
  
_Click._  
  
Another landscape, this time of the Citadel out of focus, with Noctis looking up somewhere behind the camera, unaware of his picture being taken.  
  
"That's the one," Prompto said, his voice low.  
  
The photo remained on the viewfinder screen for some time, his thumb hovering over the area where Noctis was in the frame, right over his cheek. Noctis kept his eyes on him, moving away from the photo to his face, where his brow furrowed, and he worried at his lip, never taking his eyes that looked just so _good_  in the low light off of the photo. He blushed then, not noticing he'd been staring so intently at Prompto staring at a picture of _him_ , and looked away as he held the coffee cup out to him.  
  
He didn't take it, as he was still staring intently at the camera.  
  
"Hey."  
  
No response.  
  
"Prom?"  
  
Still nothing.  
  
"Prompto?"  
  
"Hm, what?!" Prompto yelped, turning his face sharply toward Noctis, a blush on his cheeks. "What'd you say?"  
  
"I was just giving you your coffee," he laughed, holding out the cup again.  
  
"Oh... sorry." He laughed a bit while averting his eyes away, taking the warm cup in his hands. "I was just... thinking."  
  
"About what?" Noct asked, taking a tentative sip of coffee. Still really hot.  
  
"Uh..." Prompto looked down into his cup, smiling minutely. "It's not important."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah." He turned toward the outdoor table behind him, setting his camera gently onto the glass after turning the screen off. "So, Gladio doesn't hold back, does he?"  
  
"He usually does, at least a little." He blew on the coffee, the steam wafting out away from the cup. "He might've been trying to see if you're actually serious."  
  
"Then I proved him wrong!" He announced, turning his head back to stare at Noctis with that crooked smile.  
  
"So you're really going through with it?" He lowered the cup away from his face.  
  
"Yep!"  
  
Noctis furrowed his brow, turning away. He tilted his head back to stare at the stars through the wall, the cold emptiness of the sky not quite as calming with all the light in his way. He felt a hand on his shoulder, a jolt shooting through him, and he turned his head just enough to see Prompto standing _really_  close. It was nice.  
  
"What's wrong?" Prompto asked, his voice thin. "You're... are you still mad at me?"  
  
"I was never mad at you," Noctis replied quickly, pulling away from the touch he longed for. He made his way to the table and sat his cup down on it, leaning with his hands flat against the glass. "I just... don't want you to feel obligated to be with me, that's all. Or give up what you really want to do because of me."  
  
"Not gonna happen." A shuffling, and then arms wrapped around Noctis from behind. "Photography is mostly just a hobby for me right now anyway, and training with Cor is more important than that right now. And I mean, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't _want_  to do it, like I can take it but Gladio hits _really_  hard and then yells at you to get right back up like it's nothing..."  
  
Noctis snorted on a laugh.  
  
"Don't make fun of me!" Prompto protested, burying his face in Noctis's neck, which just made him laugh more. "I mean I probably would've considered quitting right then if I didn't love you so much."  
  
Time froze for a moment, just as Noctis's eyes went wide, almost round. He didn't move, Prompto didn't move, those last few words repeating over and over in his head, not registering at all, like a continuous error message. Slow breaths on his neck, and he blinked finally, the words finally having some form of meaning, but a lack of context somehow.  
  
"What?" he replied finally, time resuming.  
  
"Oh, uh, nothing!" Prompto shot back, pulling his arms away and scrambling backwards. "I didn't say anything!"  
  
"Yes you did," Noctis retorted, turning to face him.  
  
"Nope, nothing!"  
  
"Prompto."  
  
Prompto let out a huff, crossing his arms and staring at something near the balcony's tile floor. Noctis kept his gaze on him steady, his chest aching as he watched Prompto's lower lip tremble just slightly before he bit into it. Then he shifted his weight, staring down at his feet instead of the floor, so Noctis lost sight of his face. He glanced away instead, staring back at his faint reflection in the viewfinder, cold spreading from his chest and outward. His skin _ached_.  
  
"...Sorry." Prompto's voice came out in a low and careful tone, almost a murmur.  
  
"For what?" Noctis replied, his own voice sounding thin and broken.  
  
"For... saying that. I don't want to scare you off or anything, and it might be too soon and I don't think I should be the one to put you on the spot since I don't know how you really feel, and--"  
  
"Did you mean it?" he interrupted, still staring down at the camera.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What you said, did you mean it?"  
  
"I..." A pattering of footsteps, and a hand closed over Noctis's, breath on his cheek. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't, I just didn't mean to say it _right now_."  
  
"It's okay," Noctis murmured, turning his head to face Prompto, their noses brushing together. "I..."  
  
The photos where he was looking at Prompto, he had the same look on his face that Prompto did now. So that must mean...  
  
"I love you, too," he said finally, heat rising in his cheeks. "A lot."  
  
Prompto brought in an audible breath through his nose, sharp and sudden, and just as suddenly he crashed their lips together, a hand tangled in Noctis's hair, the other grabbing more at the table than his hand. Noctis gasped through his nose, too, and hummed against that soft and demanding mouth, letting out a low noise through his throat as Prompto grabbed at his hair and pressed against him, trapping him between him and the table. Noctis felt around for purchase, somehow latching onto one of Prompto's belt loops, inadvertently pulling him closer, earning a low groan for his troubles.  
  
Prompto broke the kiss for a moment, but didn't pull away; he leaned his forehead on Noctis's, his breaths heavy.  
  
"Wanna go inside?"  
  
"Yeah."

* * *

They did go inside, all the way into Noctis's bedroom, where Prompto shoved him down into the black sheets, all but falling on top of him, his hands already working Noctis's clothes off his body. Much quicker than usual, they both were free of clothes, a huge relief on Noctis's end; his pants had been uncomfortably tight ever since he went out on the balcony. Teeth raking at his throat, a hand wrapped around his cock and gave it a sudden tug, and he jolted into an arch as all of his nerves sparked at once, his surprised cry echoing on the walls.  
  
Prompto let out an airy laugh against his ear, his tongue tracing along the lobe. Another tug, but slower and gentler this time, more like a stroke, and Noctis whined, his head falling back. That hand slid down to his balls, cupping around them gently and giving a teasing roll, building the heat in his groin so quickly that he cried out again.  
  
"Fuck, Noct," Prompto breathed, giving his earlobe a quick nip. "You _really_  want it bad tonight, don't you?"  
  
He bit into his neck, as if to make his point, and Noctis's nerves all fired at once again, his voice coming out in a broken moan.  
  
"You want me?" he continued, soothing the bite with a gentle lick, kissing his way down to his chest, over a nipple, and down.  
  
Noctis opened his eyes just in time to meet his gaze, staring up from just below his navel. There was a question in his gaze as he hovered, as if asking permission. Noctis could only whine and nod in approval, managing to wrench one of his hands from gripping the sheets (already) to place it gently on Prompto's head. Prompto shifted his weight downward, settling between his knees, running his hands along his inner thighs and massaging the sensitive skin  
  
Noctis barely had enough time to run his fingers through soft golden hair before a wet velvet warmth ran up the entire length of his cock, sending sparks of warm pleasure to his every nerve. On reflex, he threw his head back and tightened his hand into a fist in Prompto's hair, and then the warmth returned, slower this time. He managed to blink through the pleasure enough to focus down at his crotch, where Prompto had his tongue flattened right up against the underside of his cock, pupils blown and lit up with an almost-dangerous mischievousness. He moaned as that tongue reached the head and increased pressure, his eyes closing as it very quickly became _too much._  
  
And then it was gone. He opened his eyes again, gazing down at Prompto, who gave him the most shit-eating and somehow-attractive grin he'd ever seen, and, with Prompto Argentum, that was saying something.  
  
"Didn't think you'd have such a strong reaction," he laughed, lapping at the head as if just to see Noctis squirm; it worked. "As much as I'd love getting you off with just my tongue..." He sat up and reached over the side of the bed, fumbling around on the floor where the newer and larger bottle of lube had ended up the night before. Or that morning. It wasn't important. "This seems like a lot more fun."  
  
Noctis kept his eyes glued on Prompto, at least as best he could with all of his nerves on fire and his cock almost _aching_ , as if it and it alone was suffering from touchstarvation; he realized a second after he thought it that he was just _extremely_  turned on, and watching Prompto apply a generous amount of lube to his hand and catching the mischievous light dancing in his eyes really wasn't helping.  
  
When he seemed satisfied, he slid up so that his cock rested against Noctis's, and Noctis felt his hips buck slightly at the sensation, if only to get some form of friction. He realized then that he was gripping the sheets again, so he released one hand and reached down between them, but Prompto batted his hand away.  
  
"Not tonight," he cooed, wrapping his lubed up hand around both of their cocks. "I wanna do this for you this time, as a thank you."  
  
"For what?" Noctis asked breathlessly, feeling unsure what to do with his hand, which ended up tangled in the sheets again.  
  
"For loving me back," came the soft reply, punctuated by a stroke upward that elicted a moan from them both. "I also wanted to test something."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
Prompto leaned forward then, pressing soft kisses against his throat, leaving a trail up to his ear, where his teeth raked against the lobe.  
  
"I wanna see what you look like without any control."  
  
It must've been a combination of his tone and how he tightened and twisted his hand as he spoke, but whatever it was, it had Noctis bucking up into Prompto's hand, a loud moan escaping his lips. Prompto pulled back just slightly, but hovered just shy of Noctis's face, who tried his very best to hold onto that irrestible gaze, which kept getting harder the faster that hand, no, _hands_  now, moved. The breathing against his face turned almost erratic, as did his own, both whining and moaning into each other's faces; mutual masturbation was good, amazing even, but this? There was no word for it, not now, at least, the dual sensations assaulting his brain with so much pleasure he thought he might scream.  
  
Well, "might" was out the window; he _did_  scream, or at least moan so loud it sounded like a scream to his own ears. Heat was coiling in his groin far too quickly, and Prompto seemed to sense it, for he slowed his hands, giving their cocks a few slow, lazy strokes. Noctis whined, his head falling back onto the sheets so he stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed, but _loving_  it.  
  
"Fuck, I love how you sound," Prompto purred, nipping at the exposed flesh just under Noctis's jaw. "You like this?"  
  
Another rough upstroke, and Noctis whined again, squirming and bucking again to get more; his skin beading over with sweat.  
  
"That a yes?" He didn't wait for an answer.  
  
Pulling back a bit, he tightened his grip just slightly, but didn't increase the pace.  
  
"I'm already close," he continued, his voice not much more than a breathless rasp. "You?"  
  
"Yeah--" Noctis managed to get out, before another rough stroke broke his voice off into a long whine.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Prompto let go with one hand, wrapping the other as complete and firm as he could manage, using his free arm to brace on the bed just beside Noctis's head. He stroked them faster, almost uncontrolled, and Noctis let himself fall victim to the ever-increasing pleasure, his moans growing louder and higher as that warmth built within him. Lips claimed his own without warning, muffling his moan, working down almost tenderly, but passion had overtaken him and he sought out teeth and tongue, which he received far too easily.  
  
It was during that kiss that he came, arching from the mattress and breaking the kiss with a long cry, hands going white-knuckle in the sheets beside him. Prompto came with an almost adorable moan just afterwards, milking them both through their orgasms with his hand, Noctis's stomach painted with the aftermath, just like their first time.  
  
Prompto didn't move for awhile, his forehead leaning against Noct's, panting heavily against his face.When he finally did move, it was with a breathy chuckle, and he flopped over to the side, pulling Noctis close despite the mess on them both. He buried his face in his neck, which Noctis welcomed, sighing contently as he gradually came down from his high.  
  
"I love you," came Prompto's muffled voice, soft and gentle, and almost strained, as if he was about to cry.  
  
Noctis reached up and stroked through Prompto's hair, who tightened his arms to somehow pull him closer.  
  
"I love you, too."

* * *

First anniversaries are unique and, for the most part, full of passion and bliss. Second anniversaries, while still excited and blissful, are more surreal, the realization of being in love with someone who loves back for two consecutive years almost overwhelming.  
  
And it was on that two-year anniversary that Prompto and Noctis plopped down at Noctis's dining table, a tray of Ignis's latest attempt at the Tenebrae pastries in the center. They were never quite right, but Noctis never actually cared; they tasted great no matter what, except that one time with the red beans. He hoped that one was a prank.  
  
"Good to see you both still enjoying each other's company," Ignis mused, washing excess flour off of his hands under the tap.  
  
"Are we not supposed to?" Prompto asked, grinning as Noctis took a rather large bite of one of the pastries.  
  
"Nah, it's just Iggy over there has a stake in whether you two get married or not," Gladio said from the couch, turning a page in his novel.  
  
"Come now, Gladio," Ignis retorted, exasperated. "I said I was done with that bet, so let's leave it be."  
  
"Wasn't talking about that, but good to hear."  
  
Noctis stopped inhaling the pastry long enough to stare over at Ignis..  
  
"What bet?" he asked  
  
"Oops, busted," Gladio muttered, though it was with a laugh.  
  
"Nothing of note," Ignis said plainly, drying his hands.  
  
"Didn't sound like it," Noctis smirked.  
  
"Gladio, you tell them."  
  
"Gladly!" Gladio sat up, setting his novel aside for the moment. "So back before you guys started dating, I'd say it was around you guys' first year of high school, me and Iggy kept debating whether you guys were a couple or not. So we kept a bet running where I said that you guys were completely clueless and Iggy insisted you were together, just hiding it." He smirked. "I won."  
  
"That's enough, Gladio."  
  
"Well that explains a lot," Noctis muttered, his face flushing over with crimson as he suddenly lost interest in the pastry.  
  
"That's so messed up!" Prompto lamented, laying his head onto the table with dramatic arms.  
  
"Why did you even do that?"  
  
"We grew tired of arguing about it," Ignis sighed, adjusting his glasses.  
  
"No, _you_  grew tired of it," Gladio corrected.  
  
"Well, yes, and I only agreed to the bet to shut you up."  
  
"Still counts."  
  
Ignis grumbled to himself, Prompto lay mortified against the table, and Gladio went back to reading his novel with a shit-eating grin on his face. Noctis returned to eating the pastry, seeming thoughtful as he turned to Ignis.  
  
"Hey, Specs," he said through a mouthful of filling.  
  
"Yes, Noct?"  
  
"These are still wrong."

* * *

Midday in the throneroom of the Citadel, and King Regis sat on the throne, his eyes on an unwelcome visitor in his domain with a barely-contained glare.  
  
"Ardyn Izunia," said the visitor, "Chancellor of Niflheim, at your _humble_  service."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I lied a little bit.
> 
> (For those confused and/or haven't seen Kingsglaive: [click this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmBhk410YpU))
> 
> Also, I use underscores to mark my italics since the rich text doesn't paste over well from my writing software, and there were a LOT of them this time around, so feel free to comment here or message me on Discord if I missed any.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where we start to put the divergence in Canon Divergence

"I'm beat," Prompto sighed, plopping down next to Cor on the upper level of the Kingsglaive training grounds, overlooking the main arena.  
  
"You did well," Cor said, handing him a bottle of water. "Not every day you get to train with the Glaives."  
  
"Like a bunch of Nocts at once," he laughed, breathless, as he took a long drink from the bottle. He sighed and sat the bottle down beside him.  
  
"A few more sessions with the prince and you'll be ready to take up guard duty." Cor leaned back, bending a knee and slinging his arm over it.  
  
"I thought Gladio was bad, but Nyx is a _monster_ ," he groaned, falling back against the stone. A nudge at his shoulder, and he whined and pulled it away. "No disrespect or anything, but I really don't wanna move."  
  
"You'll want to see this," he urged, pushing him up by one shoulder into a sitting position. "They've got a new recruit down there."  
  
Prompto blinked past his fatigue and his aching muscles, staring out at the four Glaives in the arena. They'd paired off, the mage he'd just met (and forgotten her name), with another of unknown class(probably warrior), whose name he'd _also_  forgotten. They both were small-framed women, and he could only tell them apart from this distance because the mage had long brown hair pulled back into a loose bun, and the other had darker hair (some kind of ashy black) that barely came past her chin. On the other end, where Cor had gestured, a new person who hadn't been in the arena before stood with Nyx (he definitely knew that one). This guy had short and spiky blond hair and tanned skin, but that's all he could really see from there. Nyx was talking and pointing at the pillars, and kept summoning and dismissing his kunai dagger.  
  
"What's he doing?" Prompto asked, squinting to try to get a better look. It didn't help.  
  
"From what I understand," Cor replied, leaning back a bit, his arm draped over a bent knee, "that new recruit's been having trouble with warps. Ulric's one of their best guys for that."  
  
Prompto caught a sparkling of blue light at the other side of the arena and glanced over to the other pair, not seeing the light he thought he'd seen a moment before. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look, but all he saw was the woman with shorter hair, the one who was a warrior probably, swinging her arm forward and looking back at the other woman, then sidestepping-- no, it was more of a glide. She was gliding to the side, gesturing around, then gliding again.  
  
"Something wrong?" Cor asked, leaning toward the same direction as Prompto.  
  
"I thought I saw something over there, like that light when Noct does that phase out thing."  
  
Cor leaned forward more, squinting like Prompto had. The mage mimicked the glide, though hers was more of an actual sidestep, and the other woman pumped her arm upward on a small bounce. Cor hummed, then sat back again, to where he'd been lounging before.  
  
"Ah, looks like a phasing lesson, then."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"Glaives can put up barriers and warp out of the way to dodge, and so can His Majesty... well, _could_." Cor's voice stopped for a moment, an expression that Prompto just barely caught passing over his face before it went stony again. "Prince Noctis has never been able to use barriers, so he figured out a way to... well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it. That young Glaive down there said she calls it a 'half-warp,' though she likes to make up words for things, so that doesn't mean much."  
  
"Sounds like you know her." Prompto turned his head back to Cor, smirking.  
  
"Somewhat." He shifted his weight to get a better look of that side of the arena. "Met her several years ago when she applied for the Crownsguard. Turns out she makes a much better Glaive, and a talented one at that, but she still comes by to spar with me sometimes. Probably learned how to dodge like that from watching Noctis during her breaks."  
  
He motioned toward the pair of women, and Prompto turned to look at them again. They stood side by side now, talking.  
  
"Watch."  
   
They both side-stepped at the same time, and the one with short hair phased to the side, that blue sparkling light in her wake. The mage, however, sparked off a white-blue light and cried out, stumbling back a few steps. The other grabbed her shoulders and seemed to hold her steady, her back to Cor and Prompto.  
  
"Looks like it's not going well," Cor mused, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"Yeah," Prompto agreed with a nervous laugh. "The other girl did it just like Noct, though."  
  
"I guess it can't be helped. Some Glaives have more of an affinity for certain magic than others. Like Altius down there." He pointed to the mage, who dusted herself off and stepped up to try again. "I've seen her in action, and her elemental abilities are the strongest I've ever seen, maybe even stronger than the King's."  
  
"No way!" Prompto protested, leaning back on his hands. Cor seemed pretty serious, though. "Really?"  
  
"Who knows." Cor shrugged. "The Kingsglaive as a group is younger than you are, so there's probably some surprises left. Like that one." He pointed to the short haired woman. "She--"  
  
"Dammit!" Nyx's cry cut off Cor, and both he and Prompto turned their heads sharply to the other side of the arena, only to see the new recruit tumbling down from near the top of one of the pillars, his weapon falling and sparking with white several meters away.  
  
"Shit!" Cor hissed through his teeth, jumping to his feet and already on the stairs before Prompto even processed what was happening.  
  
"Hey!" Prompto protested, leaping up to his own feet and running after Cor.  
  
The angle of the stairs made it hard for him to see that side of the arena, what with the pillars in his way. He could still hear, though, and his heart dropped in his chest at the sound of a loud _thwump_  into the dirt, followed by an agonized scream.  
  
"Medic!" Nyx yelled from behind the pillars.  
  
The scene came into view just as the pair of women warped across the grounds, reaching Nyx and the recruit first. All Prompto could see was the fallen recruit from his back, writhing on the ground on his left side, with Nyx over him, a hand on his shoulder as if he was trying to keep him still. The woman who wasn't Altius darted ahead, and Altius threw out an ice attack toward the ground ahead of her, where it froze in a sheet. The other woman slid across the ice on her knees to stop across from Nyx at the recruit's back..  
  
"Did he miss again?" Altius asked almost dryly as she came to a stop herself, squatting down next to the still-screaming recruit, as her partner or tutor (or whatever she was) ran her hands from one of his shoulders to the other.  
  
"Gonna have to roll him," she said, gaining a disapproving stare from Nyx. "What?"  
  
"You'll hurt him worse if you do that," he retorted, batting her hand away.  
  
"Not helping," she growled back, her hand moving to rest on the back of the recruit's neck.  
  
Cor and Prompto reached the four Glaives then, with Prompto hopping forward and kneeling down near the fallen one's head. Blood streamed down from his forehead and his eyes were squeezed shut, but since he was still conscious, it probably wasn't serious. Probably. Being able to scream is a good sign, right?  
  
"Anything I can do?" Prompto asked, looking up at the short-haired Glaive with what he hoped was concern.  
  
Her eyes locked onto his after he spoke, only for a moment, but it was long enough to freeze him in place; it was as if she could see right through him, right through his facade, and he shrank back slightly. It didn't help that the blue in her eyes was just a slightly brighter shade than Noct's, and his mind wandered away to thoughts of going back to Noct's apartment, curling up on the couch, watching a movie, getting distracted from the movie by each other, and getting lost in Noctis's lips and sounds--  
  
He shook his head, focusing back on the present, just in time to see a white glow on the back of the injured Glaive's neck, just under the woman's hand. It faded not long after, and she pulled her hand away, massaging at her palm. She wasn't looking at Prompto anymore, but had turned that penetrating gaze back on Nyx.  
  
"You happy?" she spat at him, who rolled his eyes and looked away. "Even if his neck _was_  broken, it definitely isn't now."  
  
The screaming had fizzled out into heavy breathing, just as the woman leaned over toward his face, hovering just to where he could see her.  
  
"Hey, Lucus, right?" she asked, but got no response. She snapped her fingers in front of his face a couple of times. "Lucus! Up here, dude."  
  
He groaned, but his eyes did open, and she leaned back a bit, both hands on his right arm near his shoulder.  
  
"This is gonna hurt, sorry," she warned, turning her attention on Prompto again, her gaze a bit softer than before. "Think you can keep his shoulders steady since _s_ _omeone_  doesn't wanna help me?"  
  
Nyx scoffed.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure," Prompto stammered, moving to brace his hands against the tops of both shoulders. "Is that good?"  
  
"Just a little farther apart," she directed, and Prompto obliged, inching them outward. "There, good. Now we're gonna roll him that way." She nodded her head backward, indicating that Prompto roll him to the right. "Ready, Crowe?"  
  
"Yeah," Crowe replied, and Prompto glanced up to see her bracing Lucus's legs. "Careful, I'm pretty sure one of his legs is broken."  
  
"He and Libertus can match," she quipped in reply. "Alright, on three: one, two--"  
  
Both she and Crowe rolled him on two, _not_  three, taking Prompto slightly off-guard; he wasn't at all sure how he kept his hands in place, but he did, and almost face-planted in the process.  
  
"Ow, fuck!" Lucus gasped, his right hand grasping at his left shoulder, chest heaving with those painful-sounding breaths.  
  
"Sorry, dude," she said, though she didn't sound sorry at all. "Anticipation makes it hurt more."  
  
"Like hell it does!"  
  
"It's going to hurt worse when Aquila starts healing you," Nyx spoke up.  
  
"Nyx, shut up," Crowe sneered, her hand already glowing with the white light over Lucus's leg. "What matters is she gets the job done."  
  
"I was just warning him, don't bite my head off."  
  
"Yeah, probably good to warn the new guy," Aquila, or who Prompto assumed was Aquila, interrupted. "For some reason it hurts when I do it, but at least it works." Yeah, definitely Aquila.  
  
"I can only soothe the pain down here," Crowe spoke up, gaining Aquila's attention. "Looks like a clean break. Maybe two."  
  
"I'll get to it, lemme fix this shoulder first." She batted Lucus's hand away and ran her hand over it and down his arm, where Prompto couldn't see. "Is it just your shoulder?"  
  
"No," he groaned. "Hurts all the way down to my elbow."  
  
Prompto craned his neck over to look at Lucus's arm, and he took in a sharp breath. His arm lay out to the side, twisted unnaturally at the elbow, and where the shoulder joint fit into the socket, it seemed like it wasn't even connected anymore. It probably looked really bad and gross under the t-shirt, and Prompto shuddered just thinking about it.  
  
Aquila stepped over to Lucus's right side, eyes scanning over the damage, traveling down the reportedly-broken leg.  
  
"Gonna do you a solid," she said, placing one hand on the leg and the other on his arm. "If I do both at once, it'll be over faster. You'd rather it be quick, right?"  
  
She didn't wait for an answer and closed her eyes, her entire body straining as a white glow spread out from under both her hands. Prompto lost his grip on Lucus's shoulders when he writhed and cried out in agony, and Crowe dove over to hold his uninjured shoulder down, her eyes darting over to Aquila, who'd started trembling from her hands all the way up to her shoulders. She bit into her lip and locked her arms in place, the glow intensifying and spreading outward until it enveloped the entire left side of his body, including where he'd hit his head.  
  
"Stop it, dammit!" he cried out, struggling against Crowe's grip.  
  
"Ila," Cor said from behind Prompto, his voice tense. "Take it easy."  
  
Lucus's cries of pain suddenly tapered off, and his face relaxed, confusion in his eyes. He looked over to her, and Prompto followed suit, and she hadn't so much as moved or reacted to Cor in the slightest. A split second later, Aquila opened her eyes with a gasp, the glow dissipated in a matter of seconds, and she slumped to the side on her arms, panting. Lucus sat up, slowly, and Prompto removed his hands, as did Crowe, and Lucus rolled his shoulder around in its socket, clenching and unclenching his fist.  
  
"Whoa..." he murmured. "It aches, but... it's normal again."  
  
"That'll--" Aquila began, but was cut off by several coughs before she could continue. "That'll go away in a few minutes."  
  
"I can soothe it if you're too impatient," Crowe offered with a smirk and a wave.  
  
"No, no no no," he replied quickly, scrambling to his feet. "I've had enough of all this healing for today... and the rest of my life."  
  
Crowe just laughed, and Prompto watched as he walked away, not even with a limp.  
  
"You're welcome," Aquila muttered, pulling in another deep breath.  
  
"Come on," Crowe said, offering her hand, which Aquila weakly took. "Can't expect everyone to appreciate it. Or anyone, for that matter."  
  
"It's the trade-off I guess," she replied, pulling herself to her feet on Crowe's arm. "Six, I'm starving."  
  
"Yakitori?"  
  
"Yakitori!" She lost her balance for a second, holding her head. "Yakitori in about five minutes, I need a bit."  
  
"You alright?" Prompto asked, rising to his feet, holding his hands out to catch her if she collapsed.  
  
"Oh, yeah," she replied, waving him away with a hand. "I'm fine, just a bit light-headed."  
  
"That happens when you're too reckless with your magic," Nyx scolded, crossing his arms.  
  
"Look who's talking, Hero," she spat back, turning to glare at him. "I'm not gonna take this shit from you today."  
  
"Come on, Ila, let's go," Crowe urged, patting Aquila's shoulder. "Wanna stop by the shopping district on the way?"  
  
"Sure," she replied, leaning into Crowe as they walked away. "I wrecked my last good pair of boots, so I wanna look around for new ones."  
  
"I just need some food for the house."  
  
"Then it's a date!"  
  
They both laughed at each other as they walked out of the arena, and Prompto looked over to Cor with pleading eyes, but he was watching Crowe and Aquila leave. He resigned himself to crossing his arms, shifting his weight from one side to the other, his eyes on the ground. He studied the dirt, trying to keep his mind off of just how useless he'd been in an emergency, and one that wasn't even life-threatening.  
  
If only he could've been a Kingsglaive, then maybe he could have powers like that. Or any powers other than summoning weapons; even Ignis could use elemancy, and, sure, he had his own abilities with his firearms, but they didn't seem nearly as useful as anything the Glaives could do. What good would all his training be if he couldn't heal Noct if he got hurt? What if there weren't potions around, or anyone who could heal him?  
  
"So, like I was saying before," Cor said suddenly, knocking Prompto out of his pensive state. "Some Glaives have a talent for certain abilities over others, and Aquila is a prime example, and an odd one at that. She's a great warrior, if unorthodox, but she can't use elemancy."  
  
"Oh, she can use it," Nyx corrected, seeming annoyed. "It just always comes out in the heat of battle and seems to hit everyone _but_  the enemy."  
  
"Really?" Cor asked, raising an eyebrow. "So she can't control it?"  
  
"Nope, not at all. Never seen that problem before. We've tried everything, even set her up with Crowe for private lessons, but I think she just gave up on it."  
  
Cor didn't reply for a moment, his eyes set on the ground just behind Nyx, as if thinking hard about something, his brow knotted. The moment didn't last long, for he quickly put his attention back on Prompto.  
  
"Regardless," he continued, "She can't use, or I guess control, elemancy, but those healing abilities are unprecedented, even among the most experienced Glaives. Guess it's what you should expect from someone out of Tenebrae."  
  
"Tenebrae?" Prompto asked, his ears perking up metaphorically.  
  
"Yeah," Cor confirmed, turning toward the stairs. "Anyway, I have to get back to the Citadel. You should go get some rest."  
  
"Oh, yeah, okay!" he replied, forcing the cheer into his voice to hide his disappointment.  
  
"By the way, how are things with His Highness?"  
  
"Uh." He blushed, hotly, and so ran ahead of Cor on the stairs in a really sad attempt to hide it. "They're good! Two years, can you believe it?"  
  
"No," Cor responded, his voice lower, quieter. "I really can't."  
  
"At least pretend to be happy for us."  
  
"I am."  
  
"Funny way of showing it~."  
  
Cor didn't respond after that, and, in fact, didn't talk much for the rest of the walk out of the training grounds and only muttered a farewell as they parted.  
  
Maybe he shouldn't have joked with him.

* * *

Ignis rushed to His Majesty's study, only giving a short greeting to the guard. He walked briskly into the room, only stopping at the chair before sitting out of pure habit from his training. Regis sat at his desk, fiddling with a pen in one hand, his face resting against the other, and he looked up as Ignis approached.  
  
"Ignis," he said, his voice tight. "I appreciate you getting here so quickly. Please, you don't need to wait to sit down."  
  
"My apologies, for not arriving even sooner," Ignis replied, taking his seat. "This is an urgent matter?"  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid." He tapped the pen on the desk. "Niflheim is offering a treaty to end this war, at the cost of the outer territories."  
  
"That doesn't sound ideal."  
  
"It's not all." He sat the pen down and laced his fingers together, pulling in a deep breath. "Part of the treaty involves..." His voice trailed off. "  
  
"Your Majesty?"  
  
"They want to arrange a political marriage between Lady Lunafreya... and Noctis, as a showing of the peace between our two nations." His voice was low, regretful.  
  
"That sounds... suspect."  
  
"Indeed. And I suspect they expect the ceremony to happen here, in the Citadel, but I've already arranged to send Noctis off to Altissia to meet Lady Lunafreya. You and Gladiolus will accompany him, and young Prompto as well, if he so chooses. At least, then, if they're planning something nefarious, he'll be safe."  
  
"Hold on, and I mean absolutely no disrespect, but you've already agreed to this? After all the work we've put in these last few years, we're throwing it away over a highly suspect offer of peace from the empire?"  
  
"I'm afraid so." Regis leaned forward, elbows on his desk, and rested his chin over his hands. "I'm far too old by now to maintain the wall, and after the recent incident that threatened to decimate the Kingsglaive, I can't be certain I can protect him, much less this city, any longer."  
  
"But the entire purpose of our plan was to ensure his happiness." Ignis tried as he could to keep his tone polite, but he couldn't hide the stern frustration from his gaze.  
  
"At this moment, his life is more important that his happiness."  
  
"There must be something that can be done." He pulled out his notebook and began thumbing through it, searching over his notes on marriage law. "This would be far easier had Noctis had any siblings."  
  
"I agree." Regis rubbed at his beard, his eyes on Ignis. "If you wish to find a solution to this, I won't stop you."  
  
Ignis paused and looked toward him, his gaze curious.  
  
"However," Regis continued, "I must inform Noctis of these circumstances sooner rather than later. He's been prepared for a moment like this, so all we can hope for is that he'll handle it well enough."  
  
"I understand." Ignis stood, giving Regis a low and formal bow. "I apologize for my outburst. It was undignified."  
  
"Don't worry yourself. It shows you care deeply about my son, and it's so much more than I ever could've asked of you. You're dismissed, and do what you can."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty, and thank you." He turned to leave, but Regis's voice stopped him.  
  
"I sincerely hope you find something. I don't want this for him any more than you do."  
  
Ignis nodded, and then disappeared into the hallway.

* * *

A half hour later found Ignis in the library, a rather large stack of books on the table beside him. He had one of them open, a large and musty tome with yellowing pages, and he thumbed through it, scanning each page, each word, for anything he could use. Sibling this, sibling that, multiple heirs; everything hinged on Noctis not being an only child.  
  
Then, a few passages down, his eyes landed on something interesting.  
  
_In the event that the heir apparent to the throne of Lucis is to be wed not of their own choosing, the heir apparent may choose to reject the arrangement on the following grounds: threat of personal harm from the betrothed's country and/or family; complete lack of interpersonal compatibility; legality issues due to the very nature of the marriage; and any other circumstances deemed unreasonable by the current Royal Court._  
  
He read and reread the passage several times, then jotted down important pieces of the passage and moved on. Hours passed, his phone buzzing to alert him that Noctis's training session ends in fifteen minutes and he must leave to head to his apartment. One more passage caught his eye, and he jotted down notes from it before closing the book and replacing it and all the others back in their rightful places on the shelves.  
  
He would find a way, he was certain.

* * *

The door to Regis's study opened and he looked up, setting down his pen and letting a warm smile spread across his face.  
  
"It's good to see you, Noctis."  
  
"Likewise," Noctis replied, giving a small shrug before he sat gingerly into the chair. "So, what's this about?"  
  
"It's..." Regis fumbled his words a bit, wringing his hands together. "Son, we... we need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I AM making things up to fill in gaps in the lore, how did you know~
> 
> Also, if you're seeing this A/N now: CONGRATS you get to see what Aquila looks like ([click here](https://prince-snoozy-ao3-dump.tumblr.com/post/179852764750/visual-concept-for-aquila-oculus))


	14. Chapter 14

It hadn't been more than ten minutes since Ignis left the library that he reached his car in the underground garage at the Citadel. He unlocked it, climbed into the driver's seat, and had just reached for his seat belt when his phone buzzed in his blazer pocket, twice. He sighed, as it must have been Noct, probably panicking over the day's developments. Staring at the screen, the notification was decidedly _not_  Noctis, but an unknown, no, _blocked_  number with two unread messages. With a slow blink, he swiped the pattern to unlock his phone and opened the notification.  
  
_> I know what you're doing. You'll put him in more danger if you do it._  
 _> Don't ignore this._  
  
Looking at the timestamps, the messages had been sent nine minutes apart, meaning the first had to have come when he was just leaving the library, and signal must have been lost just before. He glanced around warily, eyeing every shadow and every car in the vacant garage for any sign of movement, of being followed.   
  
His phone buzzed again.  
  
_> Don't worry, you're not in any danger, at least not from me_  
  
He pulled in a sharp breath, and, against his better judgment, drafted a reply.  
  
_> If you're trying to threaten me, I can assure you, it won't work, and I will find out who you are and alert the proper authorities._  
  
It wasn't a few seconds later that the next message pinged.  
  
_> Nah it's nothing like that._  
 _> I'm trying to protect you, actually_  
  
"Protect me...?" His eyes wandered outside the car again, but he still saw nothing but lone cars, and no figures.  
  
_> Well, you and him and everyone else involved._  
 _> I can't tell you anymore over this, though, just in case._  
 _> I'll send you a link to some coordinates within the city, meet me there within a half hour and I'll explain what I can._  
  
The link appeared as promised, and Ignis let his thumb hover over it, hesitant. This very well could be some sort of phishing attempt, or a virus, or even a tracking device. And just as he moved his thumb over to close the messaging app, another message appeared.  
  
_> Six what am I even doing? Here just enter these into your maps app_  
  
Attached to the message was an image, a screenshot, of map coordinates. He raised an eyebrow, then looked toward the manila envelope he had left on the seat, then looked back to his phone. He sighed again and leaned onto the steering wheel on crossed arms, mulling over his options. On the one hand, meeting someone in an unknown location, who was texting him from a blocked number at that, was far too risky, especially considering his position. However...  
  
He looked at the phone again, reading back over the texts, and just how casual and almost endearing the unknown person's use of language was, almost like Noct, but just barely so. His mind wandered then to the King, and how strange it was that, even considering the possibility that Niflheim _would_  attempt something during the wedding ceremony if it was held during the treaty signing in Insomnia, that he would send Noctis all the way to Accordo in order to protect him. Lestallum was far closer and easier for troops like the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive to protect Noctis should something go awry, and yet he was sending his son off with a guard of only three.  
  
_"You'll put him in more danger if you do it."_  
  
With a sigh, he typed out his response.  
  
_> Alright, I'll be there_.  
  
Exiting the thread, he opened up another, tapped out a quick message, then fastened his seat belt and started his car. He typed the coordinates into his maps app and, recognizing the address immediately, he pulled out of his parking spot and headed toward the meeting, trying to ignore the voice in his head telling him how absolutely foolhardy it was.

* * *

The door slammed behind Noctis as entered his apartment, kicking his shoes off in the entryway, his bag landing somewhere nearby. He ran his fingers through his bangs, back through his crown, and back down, hiding his eyes from no one. He took in a few shaky breaths, his mind echoing with the conversation with his dad, but unable to process the words, even now.  
  
_"You're to wed Lady Lunafreya, as soon as can be arranged."_  
  
He plopped down on the couch before his conscious mind realized he'd reached it, wiping his hand down his face, his breaths still shaky and shallow, and much too fast. His skin ached again, cold seeping out from his core, and he wrapped his arms around himself, but he only succeeded in making his hyperventilation worse.  
  
_Bzzt_.  
  
He opened his eyes, not realizing they'd been closed, and glanced over to the coffee table to where he seemed to have placed his phone. The screen was awake, with a message from Ignis in the notifications.  
  
_> Something has come up, so I won't be in to check with you until the morning. My apologies_.  
  
He reached over and locked the screen, looking away when it blinked off. He then reached for one of his controllers that sat on the table nearby, barely registering the _bleep_  of the console as it powered on. His thumbs moved on their own as the cursor selected a game, his eyes not focusing enough on the TV to even read the name before the loading screens began. He blinked as the screen went static on a white background with some words, but they seemed blurred somehow, and his fingers wouldn't move.  
  
He dropped the controller on the floor with a clatter and curled up on the couch, the title screen music fading away as he detached from everything around him. His aching skin slowly went numb, only the heavy ache in his chest remaining.

* * *

Ignis walked into one of the few lights in the side alley, adjacent to an open air bar a few stories up. The smell of grilled meat burned his nostrils, the burnt odor indicating that the grill needed a serious cleaning. His eyes darted from corner to corner in the alleyway, finding it much more well-lit than he expected, the area small enough that the few light fixtures eliminated all dark shadows and places to hide. With a brief check behind him, he pulled his phone out and opened the thread with the blocked number.  
  
"Don't bother," said a distorted voice, almost like three voices at once, from above him, and, on instinct, he summoned a dagger into one hand. "Whoa, easy, no need to be so jumpy."  
  
"I beg to differ," he retorted, eyes centering on a dark shape above him, perched on a window ledge on the second floor. "I have every right to be suspicious of someone who uses a blocked number to contact the adviser to the Crown Prince of Lucis."  
  
"You got me there." The figure, silhouetted by the lights above, hopped down into the alley. "You have to understand, though, I dunno who might be watching."  
  
"Does that explain the voice modulator?" he asked, letting a wry smile cross his lips.  
  
"Bingo." They stepped into the light fully, revealing a rather short figure wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, the hood so large it bathed their face completely in shadow, save for the reflected light on some form of dark mask near their chin. "I have information that could put us both in danger, but no one important ever comes around here, so..."  
  
They motioned around to the alley, doing a small twirl as they did so, not unlike a ballet dancer.  
  
"So anyway, before I get off track again," they continued, turning to face him again, hand outward as if to balance themselves. "You _have_  to take the Prince to Altissia."  
  
Ignis narrowed his eyes, still gripping his dagger; well, now he gripped both, his phone in his pocket.  
  
"Oh don't look at me like that," they sighed, dropping their arm. "Listen, I don't have all the details, but I know this much." They turned their head to one side, then the other, and approached, slowly, stopping just as Ignis strengthened his defensive stance. "The treaty is a front for something, and there's talk of an attack on the Citadel the night of the signing. The King's instincts aren't far off, I can tell you that much."  
  
"And what reasons do I have to believe you?" he asked in reply, but lowered his blades just slightly, his gaze locked onto where he guessed their eyes were; he could just barely see the reflection of the whites of their eyes, visible through strands of what must have been bangs.   
  
"You don't," they shrugged. "I wouldn't believe me either, given the circumstances. However..."  
  
They flicked their wrist and a cell phone materialized out of a blue light, and Ignis brought in a sharp breath.  
  
"You're a Glaive--" he began.  
  
"Shh!" They held up their hand, glancing from left to right again. "Of fucking course I'm a Glaive, it's the only reason I have this." They motioned to the phone. "I was in the throne room when the Niflheim envoy arrived yesterday."  
  
They unlocked the phone to an image of a man dressed in a black coat, and far too many layers for the season, topped off with a fedora. The man stood in the throne room, at the bottom of the steps, his back to the camera. The Glaive swiped to the right, and a similar scene was in the frame, but, this time, the man was looking toward the camera, and Ignis could quite clearly make out his face.  
  
"Imagine my surprise when the envoy was the Chancellor himself," they said, bitterness making its way through the distortion.  
  
"That man is the Chancellor of Niflheim?"  
  
"Yep." They locked the phone, then opened their hand to drop it onto the concrete, where the sharp noise of a cracked screen echoed in the alley. "It's suspicious enough that he showed up in Insomnia at all, but he had absolutely no guard with him."  
  
"What do you mean by all of this?" Ignis narrowed his eyes, but he had dismissed his blades, instead taking the time to adjust his glasses.  
  
"Something's up, that's what I mean." They bent down and picked up the busted phone, dusting the dirt off of it. "Some stuff I'm still figuring out, but what I _do_  know is that both Luna and Prince Noctis need to be as far away from the city as possible on the day of the signing." They flipped the phone around in their hand, raising the other one over it. "Got it?"  
  
"Not entirely," Ignis admitted, adjusting his glasses once more. "I fail to see how the Chancellor appearing without a guard would be _this_  suspicious."  
  
"Oh, right, people in the city don't know how much of a shit that guy is." They waved their free hand around, then used it to adjust their hood, just as their voice betrayed gruffness and staccato. "He's bad news, like, _really_  bad news. And he doesn't do anything uncalculated no matter how casual he seems, trust me. And don't trust _him_ , ever, no matter what he says to you."  
  
Ignis paused, his face softening just so at the pure rage that even the voice changer couldn't hide, mixed in with absolute bitterness. He tilted his head slightly, trying almost desperately to see the strange Glaive's face in the shadows of their hood, but the shadow of that dark mask shielded everything below their eyes.  
  
"Stop looking at me like that," they huffed, taking a step back. "Listen, just get the Prince out of here before the signing, ok? The wedding isn't the important part, his life is."  
  
_"At this moment, his life is more important than his happiness."_  
  
Ignis pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"You and His Majesty seem to be on the same page, so to speak," he replied finally, pulling his hand away from his face. "Speaking of, what of the danger to His Majesty's life?"  
  
"The majority of us Glaives will be assigned to the Citadel, as far as I know. I know I'll be there, and I'll protect the King with my life."  
  
"That would be much more reassuring if I knew who you were."  
  
"Nice try!" They turned and started toward the end of the alley, holding up one finger. "But I can't tell you, sorry. No hints, either."   
  
They then looked at the phone in their other hand, and a quiet 'oops' came out, only barely distorted; Ignis didn't immediately recognize the voice, nor could he tell if it was particularly feminine or masculine, a very mid-range voice.   
  
"Hey, do me a favor, Specs," they said, turning on their heel and tossing the cracked phone in his direction, which he barely caught between his hands.  
  
"'Specs'...?"  
  
"Yeah, sorry, completely blanked on your name. Anyway, can you burn that?" They pointed at the phone now in his hands. "The fire needs to be hot enough to completely destroy the internal storage. Oh, and you should delete that thread between us from your phone, too, ok? And no screenshots. And maybe reset it to factory settings just to be safe."  
  
"You seem awfully certain that someone is watching us."  
  
"Someone's always watching..." Their voice trailed off and they turned their head off to the side, hands buried in the hoodie's pocket. "Never suspect your private conversations are ever private."  
  
"What--"  
  
"Anyway!" They cut him off, and gave a small wave. "Don't forget what I told you, get Prince Noctis the fuck out of here, and burn everything."   
  
They threw something metallic up toward the side of the building and warped, hopping up onto the level with the open bar, and then disappeared from view.  
  
Ignis, somewhat dumbfounded, looked down at the shattered phone in his hands. Some of the glass was raised and bowing outward, as the overall design of the phone was rather cheap and flimsy to begin with. A burner phone.  
  
With a sigh, he turned and began the walk back to his car, still processing the entire conversation, playing it over in his head. When he got to a certain point, he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes back on the phone, wide. He then turned on his heel and stared up at the point where the Glaive had vanished, no sign of them watching him or even that they had been there at all.But he definitely hadn't imagined it, and now couldn't get it off his mind.   
  
They had referred to Lady Lunafreya simply as "Luna."

* * *

The key turned in the lock to Noctis's apartment and he jolted awake, only to quickly realize that he hadn't been sleeping at all, but staring at the red light on his gaming console for... well, a long time. The TV had turned itself off some time ago, an auto-feature due to the console shutting down after two hours of inactivity. He blinked once, then twice, and sat up, his skin feeling almost numb, his body stiff and weak. Ignis was going to give him a lecture about proper posture and sleeping properly when he came through the entryway, but he couldn't care less right now.   
  
"No~ct!" came the sing-song voice from the entryway, just as Prompto came into view.  
  
His heart plummeted, and his jaw trembled as he opened his mouth to say anything, some greeting he supposed, but nothing came out. Instead, he averted his eyes to the red light again, his arms draped over his knees.  
  
"...Noct?" Something fell to the floor, and, in a shuffling of feet, a weight eased in beside him on the couch. "What's wrong?"  
  
He didn't answer, or, rather, _couldn't_  answer; his voice wouldn't work, and the only noise he could make was a loud breath as his body shuddered. Arms wrapped around his arms and waist from the side, and he resisted at first, putting a hand on Prompto's chest. But he conceded, the warmth too tempting and too safe, and he let himself be drawn into a tight embrace, burying his face into Prompto's neck.  
  
"I got to work with some of the Kingsglaive today," Prompto said quietly against his hair, his voice cheerful; it was that fake cheerfulness he put on when he was worried, and Noctis couldn't help but clench his jaw, grinding his teeth together. "Cor said I did pretty good, but I dunno, I think I was just okay. They're way above my level, anyway."  
  
"Don't say that about yourself," Noctis managed to choke out, his voice sounding weak and broken to his ears.  
  
"Nah, dude, you don't get it, they kicked my _ass_ ," came the forced reply, contrasted by the press of lips to his hair. "So... how was your day?"  
  
He brought in a breath, hot and shallow, since his face was pressed against the fabric of Prompto's shirt, that pleasant musk of his cologne such a comfort that he choked, an involuntary sob caught in his throat as he tried to push it back down. His hands scrambled around to Prompto's back, fingers digging in and twisting in the fabric, trying so hard to get closer.  
  
The ache wasn't going away, not this time; it only got worse, and the more he buried his face in Prompto's shoulder and neck, the colder he felt, and the heavier his chest became. And Prompto, damn him, squeezed him tighter, nuzzling into his neck, as if mirroring him, and placing soft kisses to his skin. Another shiver rippled through him, but he didn't stop trembling afterwards, and that only seemed to make Prompto hold him tighter, whispering something in his ear that he honestly didn't register, but the sound nonetheless wrenched another sob from him. His eyes burned, and it was all he could do to keep the tears at bay.  
  
Prompto pulled back and out of the embrace, an involuntary and broken whine ripping its way through Noctis's throat. A hand found his cheek, and he put his hand over it, resisting its gentle urging to lift his face. A breath wafted across his face, scented with a sweet mint that held the promise of sweet kisses and a lifetime of I-love-yous.  
  
If only.  
  
"Noct..." He'd dropped the facade, and when his voice broke on the vowel, so did part of Noctis's heart. "Look at me, please."  
  
He conceded, allowing his chin to lift, even though his cheek under Prompto's hand ached unbearably, both too hot and too cold at the same time. He saw freckles first, but immediately locked onto those blue eyes, the color of sylleblossoms, of Tenebrae.  
  
Of Luna.  
  
The tears broke through his feeble barrier, hot and stinging tears streaming down his cheeks, the onslaught of overwhelming emotions forcing another sob from his throat. Prompto's face twisted into such a heartbreaking expression that he had break eye contact, but it didn't stop the tears nor the trembling, and neither did the lips that just barely brushed against his.   
  
"No," he breathed, reluctantly and broken.  
  
"No?" Prompto replied, his voice soft, and his shoulders slumped slightly.  
  
"I..." He searched for words, for _any_  words. "I, we... can't do this anymore." Not quite right. "I mean..." His voice broke off into another sob.  
  
"You want us to break up," Prompto almost stated, his voice an uncharacteristic monotone.  
  
"I don't _want_  us to," Noctis protested, wiping at his eyes with the side of his hand. "I told myself I was ready for this, and I believed it, but I can't, it's too much, but..."  
  
"You don't have a choice."   
  
Noctis froze. He dared a look at Prompto's face again, and his heart broke again, that beautiful face wearing an expression of accepted rejection.   
  
"I.. I don't," he confirmed, wiping more tears away. "The Nifs want to end the war, and one of the conditions is..." He took a deep breath. "I have to get married, to Luna. As a sign of peace."  
  
"That so." Prompto turned his face away, staring off toward the far wall.  
  
"We might be able to work something out." He couldn't stop himself, he needed something to erase that dejected expression off Prompto's face somehow. "Luna's really understanding, I can write to her and maybe, maybe we don't _have_  to end things."  
  
"Don't worry about it." A shadow of his facade came back in the form of a small and breathy chuckle. "You know, I thought I was too lucky to get to spend two years by your side, like this."   
  
A warm hand wrapped around Noct's, the other moving to stroke away another tear that had fallen.   
  
"That hasn't changed," he continued. "But I knew that this would happen eventually, I mean, you're a prince, and marriage is political, so I never thought..." He trailed off and leaned forward, resting their foreheads together. "If it means the end to the war, then that's all that matters, right?"  
  
"I guess it does..." he whispered, Prompto's mouth was so close again, a sudden longing adding to his aching chest. "But I don't... I don't want to lose you."  
  
"You don't have to," Prompto replied, lacing their fingers together. "I'm not going anywhere, so neither should you. A breakup isn't the end of us, unless you want it to be."  
  
"I don't," he said, quickly, somehow managing a brief kiss before Prompto pulled away. "I just... don't want to lose what we have."  
  
"Sometimes..." Gentle fingers stroked through his hair. "Sometimes we have to let go of things we want for the things we need."  
  
Noctis replied with a sob.  
  
"Listen," Prompto continued, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "I've never once stopped loving you, and I don't plan on it. But... this is bigger than us, right? A lot of people won't have to suffer anymore."  
  
"But what about you?"  
  
"Me?" He made a noise that sounded almost like a laugh. "I'll bounce back, always do."  
  
"So that's it."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They sat in silence for awhile, neither moving away, Prompto resting his chin on Noctis's head. The sun had set by now, and Noctis could see the city lights out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Prom?" he said, his voice strained.  
  
"Yeah, Noct?"  
  
"Stay with me tonight?"  
  
Prompto let out a breath, and soon Noctis found his face in a shoulder again, warm arms around him.  
  
"You want me to?"  
  
"Please."  
  
"Okay."

* * *

It had been a rough night. Desperate kisses that started and stopped, wandering hands that he'd had to pull away from, cuddling that just caused Noct to start crying again.   
  
Prompto had tried to be strong, reassuring him that it was okay, that they'd still be together, that he wouldn't leave and they'd get through it. That Lady Lunafreya was a better match for him anyway, but that just made him cry more. Hey, he never said he was good at this.  
  
But now, after a sleepless night, and after Noctis had finally fallen into a deep sleep, he sat out here on the sectional, the morning sun just barely touching the landscape behind him. Tears stained his face, with more falling, his lips twisted and trembling. In his hand was his phone, open to his home screen, that photo of Noctis in front of the Citadel that he loved so much staring up at him.   
  
He missed that soft smile, and he'd do anything to bring it back. But he couldn't. He was just a commoner, a pleb, and even as he cried over it, he couldn't change anything. He wasn't important enough.  
  
He locked his phone and sat it on the coffee table, leaned into his palm, and sobbed.

* * *

Ignis opened the door to Noctis's apartment, stopping just shy of jumping out of his skin as Prompto all but bumped into him on his way out the door.  
  
"Oops, sorry Iggy!" came the rushed apology as he squeezed out the door.  
  
And then he was gone. He thought it must've been his imagination, but Prompto's face had looked much redder than usual, splotchy, and perhaps his eyes had been red as well. But it must have been his imagination.  
  
Or...  
  
He kicked off his shoes, trying his best not to slide on the wood floors in his socks as he rushed to Noctis's bedroom. He caught himself on the door frame, leaning into the room. Noctis was curled up in the covers, clutching a pillow as if he were trying to suffocate it. He approached the bed and sat upon it carefully, and Noctis stirred, though he probably wasn't asleep to begin with.  
  
"Prom?" he asked, his voice hoarse and barely a whisper.  
  
"He just left," Ignis replied.  
  
A shaky sigh left Noctis and he sat up, the blanket sliding from his shoulder. He was still in his clothes from yesterday.  
  
"Did you know?" Noct asked him, avoiding eye contact.  
  
"Did I know what?" he asked in reply.  
  
"About the treaty."  
  
"...yes. Although, I only learned of it yesterday."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Noctis moved so he could put his feet on the floor, still hugging the pillow to his chest.  
  
"I didn't want any of this," he said quietly, staring out at the door to his bedroom.  
  
"Noct, I..." Ignis's voice trailed off, his mind going back to the night before, to the mysterious Kingsglaive member.   
  
There wasn't anything to be done, not now.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said finally, reaching a hand over to rub Noctis's shoulder, who responded by leaning his head against his chest. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."  
  
"It hurts, Iggy."  
  
"I know." He rubbed circles into his back and heard him let out a weak sob. "You must move forward from this, but... it's alright to grieve."  
  
Noctis sobbed again and nuzzled more into his shoulder, still clutching the pillow. Ignis looked down at the top of his head, his dark hair a mess, and saw an echo of the broken boy who had returned from Tenebrae, who had just begun to finally be whole again. He'd been smiling so much more, and now, he feared, he'd never smile so naturally again.  
  
He realized now that the days ahead would be more difficult than he anticipated mere hours ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so welcome to act 2 where everything sucks


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, I made a sideblog specifically for supplemental material for this fic since it's grown into such a monster (and I have you guys to thank for that, and I sincerely do <3) So [click here](https://prince-snoozy-ao3-dump.tumblr.com/) if you're interested in things like playlists, information on the original characters, and probably more. You can also just go straight to my brand-new spotify account by searching "princesnoozy" if you just want the music.
> 
> And since Aquila has a much bigger part in this chapter, and I didn't want to bore you guys with paragraphs of empty description just for that, [here](https://prince-snoozy-ao3-dump.tumblr.com/tagged/aquila-oculus) are the current visual references of her if you're interested in that sort of thing.
> 
> No pressure for any of that, just that it's there for anyone who wants it. Thanks for sticking around! You guys are awesome.

It wasn't clear how many days had passed; Noctis only knew he had two more days in Insomnia before they would leave to go to the wedding, to the official end of his life as he wanted it.  
  
Maybe it never was his life to begin with, and he was just pretending it was.  
  
It wasn't that he didn't like Luna, and it wasn't like marrying her could be that bad, but it wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted left his apartment without a word a number of days ago, and, while they hadn't completely stopped talking, that warmth he sought out and received had gone with Prompto that lonely morning, and now he'd never get it back.  
  
"Noct?"  
  
He almost jumped at the sound of Ignis's voice, then realizing he was sitting on his couch amongst a room of moving boxes, his TV playing the news; they were announcing the treaty between Niflheim and Lucis to the general population. It was official. There was no going back now, as much as he longed for it; and Prompto had insisted on going with them. That was way too nice of him, just way too much like _Prompto_  to go and pretend everything was okay and support him in this.  
  
Maybe he wasn't pretending.  
  
"Noct? Are you listening?"  
  
"Hm? What?"  
  
He met Ignis's gaze, and it was one of sympathy; he hated it. He moved his gaze instead to the folder in Ignis's hands, most likely the paperwork for the moving company and their itinerary for the next few days. Right, they'd been going over that, but his mind wandered, the blue of the folder reminding him too much of Prompto's eyes. He forced himself to look away, instead finding a spot on the floor to stare at. It was wood and not blue, so it was safe.  
  
"Perhaps we can leave it for another day," Ignis said quietly, too gently, the folder closing with a soft creak.  
  
"Sure," he replied, refusing to look up from the floor.  
  
"You must at least find the energy to make it to the palace with me."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"We are being tested by Cor on our teamwork, as a precaution."  
  
"I don't feel like it." He pulled his feet up onto the couch, hugging them to his chest.  
  
"You must."  
  
Noct sighed, leaning his head against the back of the sofa. Yet another thing he didn't have a choice in. He stared upward where his large windows ended and the ceiling began; well, they wouldn't be his windows for much longer.  
  
"Two hours," came Ignis's voice, as did the shuffling of papers.  
  
"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

The Glaives gathered into the briefing room, lined in two rows, as per usual. Aquila took her place in the second row, and she watched as Crowe took her place in front of her, but off to her left two places. The door opened and she averted her gaze to the front of the room, as was expected. She stood at attention as her comrades did the same, narrowing her eyes just slightly as Drautos came into the room. The air was tense and heavy, and she didn't even have to guess as to why.  
  
The treaty was happening, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her blood ran cold as she thought over the previous days, and she worried at her bottom lip for just a moment, while her line of sight to Drautos was blocked by Nyx.   
  
"The King has spoken," Drautos announced, surveying over the others, "and you have heard. All lands beyond the wall are to be relinquished to the Empire."  
  
It was happening all over again; twelve years ago was Tenebrae, and now what was left of Lucis, taken by force. Or perhaps blackmail, in this case, using the Crown Prince as a pawn in that sick game they were playing. One she could do nothing about, again.  
  
What a joke.   
  
Voices reached her ears. Luche said something, Libertus yelled at Drautos, short answers were given. The second time Libertus shouted, she dared at narrow-eyed glance in his direction.  
  
"Why would the king do this?" he bellowed, looking as if he'd tip off his crutches.  
  
"Because it'll end this damn war!" Drautos retorted. "Crowe!"  
  
"Sir!" she responded, tightening her stance immediately.  
  
"Prepare to deploy! You're being sent to infiltrate Tenebrae."  
  
Aquila raised an eyebrow, eyes locked onto Drautos as he paced. Tenebrae?  
  
"Tenebrae, sir?" Crowe responded, and Aquila had to swallow at laugh; they were too in-sync.  
  
"Mission details are classified. Report to my office for briefing in thirty minutes."  
  
Aquila narrowed her eyes even more, clenching her jaw in the least noticeable way possible. A solo mission into enemy territory, sending their best mage...? She worried at her lip again, not caring if Drautos saw her this time.   
  
Crowe wasn't the obvious choice, not by a long shot; if anyone could infiltrate Tenebrae, it was _herself_. So why was she not given new orders, and instead stuck on the castle guard as usual?  
  
She just barely caught Drautos leaving out of the corner of her eye, and her fellow Glaives fell out of formation, as did she. Libertus was saying something, so she moved to get closer, but her phone buzzed in her pocket. She retrieved it, eyes widening at the name on the notification. Soon after, though, she rolled her eyes, having seen the message in the thread.  
  
_> I just heard the news. What in Eos is happening there?_  
  
She sighed, tapping out her reply.  
  
_> I could ask you the same fucking thing_  
 _> All I know is what was on the news_  
 _> Stop hiding shit and tell me what they're up to_  
  
She leaned against the built-in table, only minutely aware of a commotion happening across the room. Her phone buzzed and lit up again.  
  
_> You know as much as I do._  
  
"Bullshit," she growled under her breath, tapping out a quick response.  
  
_> Call me._  
  
That didn't take long; her phone almost immediately lit up, and she paused, having forgotten the image she'd chosen for the contact. It was from a happier time, from before things went from bad to even worse, from before the--  
  
She shook her head and swept her thumb up, connecting the call.  
  
"Spill it," she said in stage whisper, making her way to the corner by the window. "What's going on?"  
  
_"I've not an idea."_  said the lilted voice on the other end, and she scoffed.  
  
"You know I can tell when you're lying." She earned a sigh in response, and she allowed a small smirk.  
  
_"You aren't privy to know, given your current position."_  
  
"And not given my position?"  
  
A pause. Her eyes narrowed once more, turned toward the direction of the receiver, then she stole a gaze at the remaining Glaives. It looked like Libertus was trying to start shit with Luche; she didn't blame him.  
  
Finally, she got her response.  
  
_"Never perform a side-by-side parallel spin with a partner you trust not."_  
  
Her jaw fell open slightly, but she immediately corrected it, tensing her face into the practiced expression of a performer.  
  
"And never lose sight of which direction you're both drifting--"  
  
_"--lest they run you through with their skate."_  
  
She scanned the room again; no one was paying attention to her. Good.  
  
"And if your coach tells you to partner with them anyway?"  
  
_"Seek a new coach."_  
  
She blinked, giving the room one last scan, stopping on Tredd, who had his back to her, and was speaking. They were all indirectly looking at her now.  
  
"And if you're bound by contract?" she continued, lowering her voice and leaning more toward the window.  
  
_"Then you shall wait."_  
  
Fuck.  
  
"How long?"   
  
_"Five days."_  
  
That soon. She let out a sigh, leaning her forehead against the glass. She lost line of sight with the other Glaives.  
  
"And then you can find a new partner and a new coach."  
  
_"Precisely."_ A shuffling on the other end, as well as the sound of a door creaking open and shut. _"And don't forget to be wary of contracts with vague terms."_  
  
She let her eyes open wider to take in the sight of the city center, protesters already lining up with signs.  
  
"Since you might be signing up for something you didn't agree to."   
  
_"Yes."_  
  
"Got it. Thanks."   
  
_"Pleasure."_  
  
"Bye."  
  
She ended the call with a long sigh, her gaze still on the view beyond the window. It had been a long four years, but they were good, and she was safe, for the most part. And that was all about to change; well, with that "envoy" that showed up unannounced, her safety was already in jeopardy. Didn't need a treaty to change that.  
  
If that's even what it was.  
  
She stepped away from the window and jogged to catch up with Crowe, draping her arm over her shoulder.  
  
"Save it for later," Crowe laughed, but leaned into her half-hug anyway. "I have a mission briefing, remember?"  
  
"Nah," Aquila replied, guiding them both out the door. " _We_  do."  
  
"You trying to escort me?" There was a smirk in her voice, and Aquila laughed.  
  
"Something like that." Her smile faded as her blood ran cold again, her chest tightening down as her skin began to crawl. She pulled her arm away and sighed. "It just seems weird that he's sending you in alone, and that by itself makes me uncomfy."  
  
"Hm, you're right. Wouldn't it make more sense to send you?"  
  
"Glad we're on the same page."  
  
"You going to bully Drautos into letting you go instead?"  
  
"Don't tempt me."

* * *

"Out of the question."  
  
Drautos really did tower over them, but it's not like Aquila cared. Standing outside his office, with body language on her side, she was getting into that meeting whether he liked it or not.  
  
"Sir," she began, choosing her words as carefully as possible, "I mean no disrespect, but I don't see the logic in choosing someone who doesn't know the area over someone who does."  
  
"This is Crowe's deployment," Drautos replied, his posture shifting as if to tower over her _more_. "It's no concern of yours, Aquila. Report to your post."  
  
She didn't budge.  
  
"I lived in Tenebrae for the majority of my life, a good chunk of it under the Empire's hand. I can find my way around and blend in much easier."  
  
"That's exactly why I'm not sending you." He approached and stood over her, just inches away, but she held firm, absolutely refusing to break eye contact. "This mission requires someone unknown to the Empire, and especially not one of your status."  
  
"Then I'll accompany her."  
  
"A Glaive doesn't need an escort."  
  
"But a Glaive needs backup, and a Glaive needs eyes on the ground, which I have."  
  
Drautos paused, his eyes darting between them, and Aquila narrowed her eyes as his gaze lingered on Crowe. She barely caught it, and she would have if she'd remembered to blink, but there was the faintest spark of a thought, perhaps a revelation, that passed over his face.  
  
"Fine," he relented, opening the door to his office and ushering them inside before closing it behind him. He took his seat at his desk and folded his hands together, while they took seats across from him. "Well then, you two are to infiltrate Tenebrae and extract the Princess and escort her to Altissia."  
  
"Perfect," Aquila grinned. "I know all the little nooks and crannies to sneak into Fenestala."  
  
Crowe snorted beside her.  
  
"And this," he said as he pulled a small black box out of a drawer and placed it on top of the desk. "This is to be given to Lady Lunafreya as a 'gift.'"  
  
"What is it really?" Crowe asked, leaning forward in her seat.  
  
"A tracking device. Sync it to your watches and you'll be able to track her in the event you get separated. You're to report to the west gate at 0600 tomorrow and await further orders."  
  
"Cool," Aquila replied, standing and reaching for the box.  
  
Drautos's hand landed on the back of hers, pinning it to the box lid. She looked up and met his gaze, locking onto an expression that was all too familiar by now. A knowing stare, trying to burn through her  
  
"Lady Aquila," he sneered, an expression she returned. "You should really work on your etiquette."  
  
"Sure thing, sir," she replied, taking the box once her hand was released, then gave him a short salute. "Hearth and home~."  
  
"For hearth and home."

* * *

For once, Noctis wasn't staring at the ceiling in the training room; he wasn't in the training room at all, but at the training ground that usually only the Glaives used. No, instead he was staring at Ignis, doing a sort of handstand on one of his training lances, with the point stuck into the dirt. Prompto was off to his right somewhere, and he couldn't even see him, but merely sensing his presence was so _distracting_.  
  
"So... you want me to do that?" he asked, forcing himself to turn his head and look toward Cor.  
  
"Yeah," Cor replied, waving his hand at a woman who was sitting against the wall. "You got that, Highness?"  
  
"Piece of cake."  
  
"Cool," the woman said, a revolver appearing in her hand in a sparkle of blue light. "Been awhile, Highness."  
  
Ah, that was a Kingsglaive he'd trained with before; he didn't recognize her until she spoke. He never knew anyone from Tenebrae to have a Lucian accent, but Aquila wasn't exactly normal by any standards, and it took him off-guard every time.  
  
"Your hair's not blue anymore," he remarked in reply.   
  
"Too much upkeep." She aimed the revolver at the other side of the room, where two cardboard targets shaped like cactuar stood side-by-side.  
  
"So what's with the gun?" He couldn't keep the apprehension from his voice and took a step back.  
  
"Don't worry, it's not for target practice." She looked over her shoulder at him and smirked, and even from that distance he could see that worrisome glee lighting up her eyes. "Well, I mean, it's for target practice, but you're not the target _this_  time."  
  
Her smirk widened into a grin, and she fucking _winked_  at him, and his breath came out in a shuddering sigh, his hand going over his eyes. First his aching skin and chest, and now Aquila Fucking Oculus was messing with him. It also didn't help that Prompto was laughing, even if it was probably forced; it was such a beautiful sound.  
  
"Hey, Princeling, you need to pay attention to this, too!" Aquila called out to him, and he looked up to see her gesturing way too casually with the revolver. "Keep a careful watch on Specs over there, you're gonna have to do what he does."  
  
She then took off, he blinked, and she was in the air, in a feet-first dive to the left of the lance. He flicked his eyes up to Ignis, who shifted his weight slightly off-center just as a blue flash of light brought his attention back to Aquila, who swung in a wide-arc around the lance as she fired at one of the cardboard cactuars; it fell. He caught movement as she came around to the other side, and Ignis did a small flip off of the lance, which disappeared back into the armiger.  
  
"So just do that," she said as she dusted off her pants, looking over to where Prompto was standing. "Well, minus the skates."  
  
Skates? Noctis looked down at her feet and, sure enough, she was wearing what looked like Kingsglaive-issue boots, but with the sole modified with some kind of blade across the bottom. Like ice skates, but on dirt. Weird.  
  
The skates vanished into the armiger provided by his father, replaced by different boots, and she made her way over to Prompto. He stopped watching her and instead set his eyes on Ignis, who approached him.  
  
"I trust you were paying attention?" Ignis said, pushing his glasses up his nose.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm not entirely sure what I was looking for," he admitted.  
  
"Balance," came the simple reply, but it was all he needed.  
  
He stepped up, daring a look back at Prompto, who grinned at him, bright as always. He swallowed and nodded, trying to ignore the way his heart ached and made his skin go ice cold. Facing forward, he summoned a practice pole arm of his own and warped, driving the pole arm toward the dirt. He caught a flash of blond before it even hit the ground, and he moved to counter the extra weight on one side with his legs to the other so it still impaled the ground straight down.   
  
A gunshot, and he caught a flickering of green as the cactuar went _flying_  toward the edge of the arena.  
  
He let the lance disappear as he hopped off of it, and before he could even fully regain his footing, an arm slung itself over his shoulders, sending a warm jolt through him.  
  
"First try, buddy!" Prompto announced, his breath hitting his ear, his voice just a tad bit too loud.  
  
There was a pause, and Prompto hadn't removed his arm, and Noctis could still feel ragged breaths on his hair. He turned his head just slightly, just enough to see that, yes, Prompto's face was _very_ close, and then it was over. Prompto pulled away, and quickly, letting out a nervous laugh.  
  
"Aww~," Aquila sang from near the wall. "You guys are adorable~!"  
  
Ignis said something, so quietly he couldn't hear it, and then she very loudly replied with a "WHAT." His face grew hot and he ran his hand up it into his bangs, combing them back down over his eyes. Did she have to make fun of him _now_? This whole thing already felt awkward enough as it was.  
  
"Hey, uh... Noct?" Prompto said suddenly, gaining his full attention.  
  
Nervous eyes met his and, for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to cling to him and retake those lips, seek out that warmth he never stopped craving. And then it passed, and cold washed over him again, a shiver running down his back.   
  
"What is it?" he asked finally, crossing his arms and trying to keep his stance as casual as he could.   
  
"I know you're really busy tomorrow, so maybe..." A breath, and a long sigh. "Maybe we could hang out tonight, play video games or something?"  
  
"Can't," Noctis replied almost immediately, closing his eyes as the regret immediately sank in. "Busy tonight, too."  
  
"Oh..." Another pause, then a brighter tone. "That's ok! I'll just work on packing."  
  
And with that, Prompto walked off, and Noctis opened his eyes to see him make his way over to Ignis and Gladio, where Gladio had been resting near the stairs. Instead of following, he walked over to where Cor and Aquila were chatting near the pillars in front of him.  
  
"You serious?" she asked, sounding dumbfounded by whatever he didn't hear Cor say.  
  
"Those are my orders," Cor replied, just as Noctis leaned against the pillar and sat down. "They've got you on castle guard still, right?"  
  
"Posted by the crystal," she replied. "I have orders beyond the wall tomorrow morning, too."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Classified." A shuffling sound, and her voice got much quieter, and much more serious in tone. "You know, the other Glaives aren't exactly happy about this whole situation."  
  
"I don't blame them."  
  
"Yeah, but..." Her voice trailed off, and Noctis glanced up toward her and froze. She was staring right at him, with a gaze that cut right through him, irises like glacier ice.  
  
"But what?" Cor asked, seeming to not notice the exchange of gazes happening beside him.   
  
"Nothing," she replied, averting her gaze and releasing him, so to speak. "It's nothing." She stepped away from the wall and gave them both a small wave. "Got an early day tomorrow, and I'm overdue for a long-ass drink with Crowe."  
  
"Don't get into too much trouble."  
  
"Who, me?! Nah."   
  
And she walked off, Noctis letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He ran a hand over his face, catching Prompto's animated gestures out of the corner of his eye. Naturally, he looked in his direction, feeling a small smile touch his lips. Prompto seemed normal enough, and, even though his cheerfulness was probably mostly fake, it wasn't as forced as it probably should've been.  
  
Almost like he'd been waiting for the opportunity for them to separate.  
  
He shook his head. Nah, that was crazy, Prompto would've told him, right? But the thought persisted, and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Even though it didn't.  
  
"Hey, Highness," Cor said suddenly, shocking him out of his thoughts. "Need to get out of here before the Glaives start doing drills."  
  
"Oh, right," he replied, his own voice muted to his ears.  
  
He stood and dusted himself off, then started walking toward the stairs that led to the exit.  
  
"Hey," Cor said from behind him, stopping him in his tracks. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Bout what?" he asked, giving Cor a dismissive wave as he walked away.

* * *

The night sky, with all its comfort, had never seemed so lonely, and yet so suffocating. Granted, Noctis couldn't see all the stars, sitting on the roof of his apartment building in the middle of the city, but any other time he felt this achingly-lonely, he could find comfort in what few stars he could see.  
  
But that was before Prompto. The dark sky was cold, Prompto's arms were warm. The vast expanse of darkness threatened to drown him, while Prompto had given him reason to breathe. He'd had a chance at one more night alone with him, even if they weren't together anymore, and he _lied_.  
  
He didn't want his fears confirmed, that Prompto seemed so okay with separating that he didn't want or need him anymore, when Noctis never _stopped_  needing him. And the dream he had during his short-lived sleep the night before didn't help, with Prompto flat-out telling him that he didn't actually want to go to Altissia, that he felt obligated as a member of the Crownsguard.   
  
And, while that wasn't anything that was said, it didn't seem any less true. But it couldn't have been, and yet it felt like it was, and yet Prompto wasn't even _like_  that.  
  
Maybe he was just losing his mind.

* * *

The endless shots of tequila had stopped burning ages ago, gone with the sharp edges around everything in this club, or bar, or wherever Prompto had ended up. He'd just meant to come out for a few drinks and then go home, but he couldn't get the image of Noctis so quickly refusing to hang out with him, even if it was just going to be video games, and that just led to shot after shot after shot, and now he could barely stand.  
  
He knew Noct wasn't busy tonight. And Ignis confirmed it.  
  
Hands that weren't his carded through his hair at his crown, and he just barely realized he'd come outside into an alley. A figure with dark hair stood in front of him, close to his face, blue eyes shining in the dim light, and he just didn't _care_  anymore, and he kissed them where he approximated their mouth to be. He lost contact for a second and reached out, finding hair, and closed the gap again.  
  
Dark hair, blue eyes, and soft lips; for now, it seemed as if he had Noctis back in his arms, pinned against this wall, not rejecting him, moaning into his mouth with need, just like he always did, not knowing what to do with his hands. It was so _cute_.  
  
He pulled away for some reason, and someone spun the alley around him. Something, or someone, caught him by his shoulders, and they also somehow felt around his forehead; they must've had, like, four arms. A strange sensation came up through his throat and his stomach lurched, and he was 100% sure he was about to puke all over his shoes, but the hands holding his head felt so cold and soothing that the nausea retreated.  
  
"Poor kid," a faraway voice said, a woman's voice.   
  
"Good kisser though," said a distinctly-different woman's voice. "Even if he's too drunk to stand."   
  
So, he wasn't kissing Noct after all. Well, of course he wasn't.  
  
"Not too drunk," he made his mouth say, turning his head toward the second woman's voice. "'m perfectly fine."  
  
"Yeah whatever you say," the other woman replied. "Let's get him home."  
  
Before he knew it he was in a car, a hand still on his forehead, and even sitting down everything was spinning. He leaned forward as his stomach lurched again, but that weird cooling sensation kept it at bay again.  
  
"Don't puke in my car," the second woman said, and that was the last thing he remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha whoops


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to everyone who had to deal with me screaming about this chapter in a way that can be boiled down to this: There's a HORSE. LOOSE! IN THE PLOT.
> 
> Don't forget, I have a [blog](https://prince-snoozy-ao3-dump.tumblr.com) dedicated to things for this fic like OC info, playlists, and me screaming about this fic, so if you're into that kind of thing, you can follow if you want

The room was dark: that was the first thing Noctis noticed about it. It was _dark_ , and unnaturally so. A dim white light shone from behind him somewhere, but it was otherwise just very dark.  
  
He sat up slowly, his body heavy, his limbs not listening to his directions properly, as if there was a lag between his brain and his muscles. Once his face and upper body were off the cold floor, he surveyed the room. No light source, but there was definitely light coming from somewhere behind him, illuminating him, as well as a shadowed figure on the other side of the room.  
  
The shadows pulled away from the figure, just as his eyes stopped on it, revealing black clothes, a silver revolver leaning against one shoulder, and fluffy blond hair.  
  
"Prompto?"  
  
Prompto turned his head just slightly, his hair flopping to the side as he moved. He didn't have it spiked like usual, so it just cascaded down one side of his face, and just looked weird and asymmetrical overall.  
  
"Oh, it's _you_ , Noct."  
  
Noctis's heart stopped momentarily, and felt like it had dropped down into his stomach. He scrambled to his feet the best he could, straightening up just as Prompto approached far too quickly, with a gait that mirrored the confident strut of a soldier rather than the bounce in his step he normally had. His eyes, too, were different; he couldn't tell what it was from this distance, but something was _very_  wrong with Prompto's eyes.  
  
A hand impacted his shoulder and shoved him back against the wall, which was much closer than he'd realized or remembered from a few moments ago. His heart definitely wasn't stopped now, but beating way too fast, his breaths coming and going just as quickly. One of those breaths he pulled in fast and held, as Prompto had leaned in, his arm that held the revolver resting on the concrete just above his head. His grip on the gun must have been relaxed, and lazily so, because he could see the silver reflecting light from the corner of his eye, as if it were dangling loosely above his head.  
  
But what had his attention now was the absolute malicious gaze that had locked onto his own, contrasted by the most twisted smile; he didn't even know Prompto's face could _do_  that.  
  
Prompto, or whatever was pretending to be him, leaned in more, breath ghosting over Noctis's lips. He felt himself tremble, and, in response, Prompto fucking _laughed_.  
  
"You scared, Noct?" he asked, his voice mocking, almost biting. "It's just me."  
  
"You're not Prompto," he replied, his own voice weak.  
  
"Oh, I'm definitely _Prompto_ ," he sneered, his hand sliding across to grab onto Noct's throat. "I'm just not the Prompto you know, nor am I the Prompto who loves you."  
  
Noctis tried to swallow, but it hurt; he could feel his own pulse against Prompto's hand.  
  
"What the fuck does that mean?"  
  
"Oh, Noct, you're so naive..." Lips found his ear, and the grip on his throat tightened briefly. "Do you really think anyone would _willingly_  put up with you?"  
  
A sharp pain shot through his chest, as if he'd been stabbed from the inside. He opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out, so he just clenched his jaw.  
  
"Nothing to say to that?" Prompto sneered, his voice almost sickening. "Guess it's true, then."  
  
"You're wrong."  
  
"Am I?" Those mocking eyes were in front of him again, the hand traveling up to his face, lifting his chin just slightly. "Then tell me something, _Noct_. What reason do Ignis and Gladio have for being around you? Their jobs, right?"  
  
He didn't answer, the ache in his chest growing.  
  
"I thought you were smarter than this, _Your Highness_. You're the son of the most powerful man in Lucis, and you think some pleb is going to just be friends with you, with no ulterior motives?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Why should I? It's true."  
  
"No it's not."  
  
"Still don't believe me? Okay."  
  
Lips found his suddenly, taking them with such passion and tenderness that Noctis melted instantly at the electrified contact, momentarily forgetting about the revolver that rested just inches from his head. He whined, sliding down the wall just a bit, nothing but Prompto's hand at his jaw keeping him on his feet at this point. His hands found soft hair and pulled Prompto in more, working his lips greedily, seeking out what he'd been deprived of because of pointless politics.  
  
The hand on his face moved then, wrapping around his throat again and squeezing so hard that he choked, pulling away from the sweet embrace out of pure reflex.  
  
"See?" Prompto grinned, that malicious gaze still fully intact. "It's so easy, you're so trusting and so innocent to these things, that just with a tiny little touch, you're _mine_."  
  
The cold metal of the revolver found his cheek, the barrel sliding back through his hair, sending goosebumps up his arms.  
  
"You were the perfect toy, so trusting and so, _so_  disposable."  
  
Noct's mouth went slack, his eyes stinging with the threat of tears.  
  
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You knew as well as I did that you'd get married off to someone you barely knew eventually. All I had to do was bide my time and wait." The hand around his throat traveled downward, over his chest and abdomen, before stopping to claw at his crotch just as lips found his ear again. "And I thought I'd have a little fun in the process."  
  
"You're lying." His voice was even weaker than before, dread seeping in.  
  
"You never had anyone before me, right?"  
  
"...No."  
  
"Then how do you know what we had was real?"  
  
Noct's breathing stopped dead, his eyes wide, completely taking in those sylleblossom eyes staring into him with so much contempt and malice, more than he'd ever seen in anyone, let alone Prompto. He blinked once, then twice, then coughed on a sob, a tear escaping down his face. His head tipped forward and he bit his lip, trying desperately to prevent anymore audible sobs; he was unsuccessful.  
  
"Aw, did I hit a nerve?" The gun barrel stroked through his hair again, as if Prompto was petting him with it. "Sorry you had to find out this way, _Highness_ , but it had to happen eventually. Though how you could think that anyone would love a whiny spoiled brat is beyond me. I mean, even your dad doesn't want anything to do with you."  
  
"That's not true!"  
  
A flash of blue light, and the Royal Arms, the ones his father used, surrounded him on all sides, pointing straight at Prompto. Prompto, on the other hand, didn't move.  
  
"Hey, easy does it," he grinned, pulling away and gesturing around with the revolver. "Don't shoot the messenger and all that."  
  
He turned and started toward the other side of the room, where a door had appeared as if from nowhere.  
  
"Prompto!" He reached out his hand, darkness spreading from the wall with the door and enveloping Prompto.  
  
"Save your breath, Noct, I'm not coming back."  
  
Noctis sat up suddenly, breathing heavily and rapidly, staring at the interior of his room at the Citadel. Panting still, he ran a hand over his face, then through his hair, finding both of them sweaty and gross. He leaned onto bent knees with his forehead, pulling in breaths as deeply and as slowly as he could, trying to push that fake Prompto's face from his memory.  
  
Though, since that was the third or fourth nightmare he'd had like that, it was harder to erase the image.  
  
He glanced over to his left, feeling around that side of the bed at the same time, searching for a familiar sleeping form. He found nothing, the right side of the bed empty and undisturbed, just as it had been last night.  
  
Prompto wasn't there, and he never would be again.  


* * *

Hearing a beep, Aquila looked up from securing the two motorbikes in the van to gaze at Crowe fiddling with the tracking device's box and her own watch. She smiled minutely, moreso as Crowe turned around to face the two guys standing outside, eyes wandering down to where her thigh holster hugged her left leg. She bit her lip, then turned away again, pulling tight the last strap meant to keep the bike from tipping over on top of them. She gave a test kick to the tire; it didn't budge.  
  
"A hairpin?" Nyx said from outside, probably to Crowe. "Didn't think either of you were into that kind of thing."  
  
Nyx and Libertus _both_ laughed. Cheeky bastards.  
  
"It's not for me _or_  Aquila," Crowe replied, sounding completely done. "It's a gift for the princess. But keep that quiet, nobody's supposed to know."  
  
Aquila laughed this time, leaning toward the doors just enough that all three of them were in view.  
  
"I guess 'nobody' is about five people, Crowe?" she called out, grinning.  
  
"HA," Crowe retorted, turning back with fire in her eyes. "FUNNY."  
  
Still laughing, Aquila stepped between the bikes in the cramped storage compartment to the wall separating it from the cab. Using an open hand, she banged on the metal wall three times in succession, then got three honks from the driver in response.  
  
She turned and tiptoed through the tight space again, leaning out of the back of the van with a hand braced on one of the walls.  
  
"All set to go," she said, looking straight at Crowe. She looked so good from this angle, it wasn't _fair_.  
  
"Got it," Crowe replied, giving her a swift nod.  
  
"Watch your backs out there," Nyx said, stealing Crowe's attention away.  
  
"I know you're sick of hearing this," Libertus said, wobbling forward on his crutches. "But you're like a little--"  
  
"--sister to you," Crowe interrupted. "Yeah, I am sick of hearing it."  
  
Aquila chuckled, squatting down in the van, her hands draped over her knees. Crowe walked up to the van and paused, looking up at her with brown eyes full of fire, and of the morning sun.  
  
"Chill out there, Libby," Aquila said with a grin, reaching out and running her fingers through the loose strands of Crowe's hair. "I'll take _real good_  care of your little sis for ya."  
  
"That's not reassuring and you know it."  
  
Oho, Libertus sounded a little offended, but he also seemed to know _exactly_  what she meant. She simply replied with another grin and a wink.  
  
"In all seriousness," Nyx cut in, stepping forward. "Keep an eye on each other, alright?"  
  
"Don't need to preface like that when everything you say is serious," Aquila retorted.  
  
"We've got each other's backs," Crowe spoke up, wrapping her hand around Aquila's forearm when she'd stopped messing up her hair. "Always have, so you guys have nothing to worry about."  
  
"Just make sure you come back in one piece," Libertus said, no, _begged_  almost, coming forward more on his crutches.  
  
Bracing back on her right leg, Aquila hoisted Crowe into the van, taking a few steps back to make room for her to actually get through the doors. She leaned against the bike to the right and looked to where Crowe was closing the doors, but she'd paused.  
  
"Alright?" Libertus said, presumably still staring up at Crowe with puppy eyes.  
  
"Says the guy in two pieces," Crowe replied dryly.  
  
Aquila busted out laughing, holding her stomach.  
  
"OH BUUUUURN!" she called out of the doors, just as Crowe closed them.  


* * *

They'd been on the road for some time now, winding through the backroads of rural Lucis after they pulled away from the city border control. Aquila leaned against the bike on the floor of the van, almost laying down, tapping away at the game on her phone, biting her lip as she went. Anxiety gnawed at her, however, and her eyes kept going out of focus, guilt fighting with her need to distract herself. She didn't notice the death animation before the screen darkened, the metallic GAME OVER text staring back up at her.  
  
She sighed, locking her phone; she just wasn't with King's Knight today, fuck it. She sat up, pulling one leg up toward her chest just enough to drape one arm over it. Her eyes wandered over to Crowe, seeing her face lowered, her fringe hanging down over her eyes. She was poking around on her own phone, not paying attention to her at all. With another sigh, Aquila looked away, instead setting her stare on the back of the van.  
  
"Hey..." she said, just loud enough to be heard over the rumble of the tires on the road.  
  
"Yeah?" came the reply. "...what's wrong?"  
  
"I'm..." She sighed again, lowering her gaze to her hand, closing it into a fist and then opening it, the creak and slide of the leather glove soothing. "About last night... I'm sorry."  
  
"What for?" Crowe's voice sounded forced and cautious, and Aquila tightened her fist again.  
  
"You know what."  
  
This time, it was Crowe who sighed, and Aquila closed her eyes, clenching her jaw.  
  
"I'm not mad at you," Crowe said, "if that's what you're thinking."  
  
"You probably should be."  
  
"Why? Because that drunk guy was all over you?"  
  
"I didn't exactly stop him."  
  
"I don't blame you, if I'm being perfectly honest."  
  
"You probably should."  
  
"Don't say that, Ila."  
  
Aquila took in a breath, then dared a look at her, her fist shaking now.  
  
"I'm not that insecure," Crowe continued, making her way over to Aquila in a sort of crawl. "Granted, a few years ago I might've gotten jealous and gotten mad at you, too, but regardless, you went home with _me_."  
  
Aquila had to tear her eyes away, grinding her teeth and setting a hard gaze on the floor.  
  
"That's not the point, Crowe."  
  
"I know." A hand brushed her bangs from her eyes, and she took in a breath. "You know, you're a good person, and it's so frustrating sometimes that you don't see it."  
  
Crowe really had no idea, and that's the thought that almost passed through Aquila's lips as more than just a thought. But she held her tongue, instead forcing herself to meet her gaze again.  
  
"You're too good for me," she replied quietly, leaning into the hand that stroked through her hair. "Even with all your hang-ups, you still outclass me."  
  
"They're just hang-ups." The hand stroking her hair slid down to tilt her chin up. "But you fared pretty well regardless of what you went through, too, I mean it."  
  
"That's a pretty lie," she said bitterly.  
  
"Not a lie."  
  
"That's too bad." A small smirk tugged at her lips, and she leaned up off the bike a bit, seeking the fuel for the reignited fire in her gut. "I love it when you lie to me."  
  
She just barely brushed lips with Crowe before that mouth was out of reach, and instead she was met with a knowing grin and a hand pressed firmly against her shoulder. She whined and resisted, pressing up against the hand, which slackened just slightly. She very quickly slipped her hands under Crowe's jacket and yanked her in flush by her waist, crushing their lips together as she leaned back against the bike again. All of her anxieties bubbled up at once, and she tightened her grip, hooking her legs around Crowe's thighs to hold her firm, drinking down the small moans and gasps she elicited, working her lips with much more force when gloved hands carded their way through her hair.  
  
They separated a moment, and Aquila stole the opportunity to rake her teeth against Crowe's throat, her sole focus on her girlfriend and _only_  her girlfriend. The way her back arched under her touch, the small notes of her voice in her heavy breaths, the way she just _melted_  when she nipped at her pulse point.  
  
Her uneasy feeling from yesterday returned, and she locked her legs behind Crowe's and squeezed with her thighs, trapping their bodies flush together at the hips. She chased after those irresistible lips again, letting out a low growl when they were still out of reach.  
  
"We're on a mission," Crowe said, a laugh in her voice.  
  
Aquila persisted, managing only to nip at her jaw briefly before a hand planted on her forehead and pushed her back, but only enough that she was _just barely_  out of reach; Crowe's scent still filled her nostrils, a sweet intoxicating perfume that echoed the warmth and safety of Insomnia, but with small notes of sylleblossoms; it drove her _crazy_.  
  
"Come on," she purred, straining her neck in a futile attempt to close the distance again. "Live a little."  
  
"I am," came the reply, a mocking lilt to her voice that fed the excruciating heat in her gut. "That's why I'm leaving you hanging."  
  
"You fucking _tease_." She squeezed her hands on Crowe's waist, letting out a sigh when her back arched in response.  
  
"Take it as payback for last night," Crowe replied breathlessly, pulling back with a grin.  
  
Aquila allowed a wry smile to her lips, heart racing.  
  
"Thought you weren't mad at me."  
  
"Oh, I'm not, but, you know, any excuse to mess with you."  
  
With a low growl that started deep in her throat, Aquila pulled Crowe close again, letting their mouths hover mere millimeters apart. The urge to consume her was so powerful, and she fell just short of relenting. She probably should have, given how fast her heart raced, how her stomach was twisting itself in knots, and the memories assaulting her.  
  
It wasn't safe, though, and it wouldn't be for awhile.  
  
"You're so gonna get it when we get home," she breathed, smirking when Crowe's mocking expression faltered to a blush for a split second.  
  
"That's the plan," Crowe replied, her voice husky, and it would've been _so_  nice to just roll her over onto her back and take her right then, right there, mission be damned.  
  
Instead, she allowed Crowe to pull away, and, to her surprise, she didn't go to sit where she had been sitting not fifteen minutes ago against the wall. A hand found hers, and Aquila glanced over to see her beside her, sitting with her back against the bike.  
  
"So..." Crowe said, that mocking expression on her face again. "How are we gonna deal with your ex?"  
  
"I dunno," Aquila replied, looking off to the wall across from them. "I'll probably just run through the halls naked and make him cum all over his pants."  
  
" _Ila_!"  
  
"Hey, it worked last time."  
  
Crowe doubled over laughing, and Aquila grinned, relaxing against the bike at her back. Even so, her apprehension didn't falter, and as she looked over at her girlfriend losing her shit over a dumb joke, she knew it should've warmed her heart.  
  
Instead, it turned her blood to ice.  


* * *

The sun was so _rude_. It shone right on Prompto's face through the window, making his throbbing headache even worse.  
  
He sat up, slowly, opening his eyes just barely to a bedroom. His own bedroom, in his own house. His fuzzy memory came back to him slowly, shots of tequila that he had way too many of, several different bars and clubs, and not much else. Rubbing his temple, he forced his head to move, to assess his surroundings like Cor taught him to.  
  
Nothing was out of place, save for a bottle of water and a small travel-sized bottle of aspirin on his nightstand, latter of which wasn't his; it looked brand new. Under the aspirin bottle was a piece of notebook paper with writing on it, looking as if it was torn from one of those fancy journals with pretty covers. He pulled it from under the bottle and brought it up to his squinting eyes.  
  
 _"Thought you might have a nasty hangover, so take the aspirin ( ONLY TWO) and chug the entire water bottle _  
_Oh and there's a huge burger in the fridge that'll heat up ok if you nuke it but I make no promises about the taste_  
 _Sorry we couldn't hang around, had an early morning. Might wanna be careful where you go at night, that was a nasty side of town and there's a lot of people who would take advantage of a cute affectionate drunk like you_  
 _Anyway also sorry but we had to pick the lock to your house since we couldn't find your keys before we came in. They were on the counter btw_  
 _And sorry for everything else"_  
  
Panic set in as he remembered: he'd kissed someone, it wasn't Noctis, and they'd _put him in his bed_. Was it a girl? A guy? Neither? They had Noctis's eyes, he remembered that at least, but maybe it was his imagination? And how'd they find his house? Maybe he ran his mouth and didn't remember, but that meant he could've done so much more than just kissed.  
  
His head spun, and only _a little_  from the hangover, he swore. He let the note fall to the bed, holding his hand over his eyes, pulling in deep breaths, trying to slow his racing heart. Did he fuck someone he didn't know last night? It wouldn't be the first time, especially since it was infinitely easier to not worry about impressing someone he'd never see again. But Noct... he'd never cheated on him before, and he wouldn't now--  
  
Wait. He couldn't cheat on someone who broke up with him. That's not how that worked.  
  
Then why did it still feel like he did? Like he betrayed his best friend or something, or himself; whatever it was, it was making him sweat, and nauseous, and--  
  
His stomach lurched, and he scrambled off the bed to his feet, sliding around on the wood floors in his mad dash to the bathroom.  
  
He just barely made it, vomiting into the toilet bowl just as he slid to a stop on the tile. It came on in two waves, and sounded so gross; he had to brace himself on the lid of the tank to keep from collapsing on shaking legs. When it finally ended, and the nausea was _mostly_  gone, he slid his hand over to flush, without even one glance into the bowl. He felt his way over on unsteady legs to the sink, cupping water into his mouth with his hand from the tap and swishing it around, spitting, then repeating. He wiped his watering eyes with his forearm, reaching for the mouthwash and swishing that around, avoiding meeting his own eyes in the mirror.Finally, he made his way wearily out of the bathroom, his body weak and head aching.  
  
Back in his room, he fumbled around the nightstand for the water bottle and aspirin, fiddling with the tamper-seal for a moment before popping two pills in his mouth and chugging the entire bottle in one go, desperate for the burning in his throat to just go away.  
  
He dropped the now-empty bottle on the floor and plopped onto the bed on his butt, running his hand over his damp face and up through his hair. He happened to look at the floor, where the note left for him by the stranger (strangers?) had fallen in his scramble for the bathroom. It had landed with the note side down, and he saw more writing, much more rushed than what had been on the front. He leaned down gingerly and picked it up, squinting to make out the scrawled words.  
  
 _"Almost forgot: we didn't fuck or anything, not into anonymous drunken sex and my gf was with me anyway, so don't waste your time worrying about STD tests or anything_  
 _:D"_  
  
Relief washed over him like a splash of cold water, and he let out an involuntary sigh. He crumpled up the note, tossing it into the waste basket by his nightstand. He wandered over to his desk, pulling open the top drawer to reveal a pile of 3x5 photo prints. He took out the pile and went back to the bed, sitting down at the foot, sifting through the photos.  
  
Noctis in front of the cherry blossoms last spring.  
  
Noctis staring out the window of that diner where they had their first date.  
  
A selfie, himself and Noctis stargazing on the patio at Noctis's apartment.  
  
Noctis at the Citadel, the same photo as his phone wallpaper.  
  
And the last, with soft lighting from the natural light through the window, of Noctis sleeping and peaceful in his bed.  
  
He didn't notice the tears until they were already streaming down his cheeks, and he wiped them away with the back of his right hand, then pinched the bridge of his nose at the root. They wouldn't stop, at least for awhile, and he sat like that until they did.  
  
When the tears finally ceased, he pulled his hand away, noticing then that it felt a little light. He looked down at his arm, or his wrist, rather, and got an eye full of barcode.  
  
"SHIT!"  
  
He dropped the photos and wrapped his now-free hand around his wrist, panic rising in his chest, looking down where the photos scattered across the floor. The selfie landed face-up, and he brought in a sharp breath, leaning over to gather them back up and stack them neatly on the bed. He looked around the room, then, searching through the covers on the bed before his eye caught something on the nightstand, right next to where the note and water bottle had been.  
  
His cuff bracelet sat there, the clasp looking shiny and new, as if it had been replaced by the stranger from the night before. Nothing in the note about that, though, so maybe it was just his imagination?  
  
He quickly put it back on his wrist, where it belonged, adjusting it to be sure everything was hidden, as it should be.  
  
Satisfied, he rubbed his still-damp eyes and turned away to make his way to his bags to start packing.  
  
He would be strong tomorrow, so Noctis could do what the had to do. He had to be, for both of them.

* * *

Ignis sat down on the sofa with a small huff, flipping open the black folder in his hands to the attached page within. Gladio sat to the side of him, presumably reading one of his many historical romance novels, barely acknowledging his presence. Adjusting his glasses, he set his gaze on the memo in the folder, an answer to his inquiry made not hours ago. Perhaps an email would have sufficed, but removing a paper trail was far easier than a digital one.  
  
_"Chamberlain,_  
 _As per your request, I reviewed the assignments of that location on the date and time requested, and I write to inform you that no one was posted there at that time. I myself had left just a short time earlier, and therefore was not present at the designated time in your request. I apologize if this is not to your satisfaction, but it is what is in the records._  
  
_As per your second request, the date of the signing is still undecided._  
  
_Regards,_  
 _Drautos."_  
  
He let out an exasperated breath, flipping the folder shut and tossing it onto the coffee table, where it slid to the edge and almost fell off onto the floor. That seemed to get Gladio's attention, for he lowered his book and set a questioning gaze on him.  
  
"What's up?" Gladio asked, eyes darting from the folder to Ignis and back again.  
  
"Nothing of much importance," Ignis grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Although, I am quite anxious about this trip."  
  
"That why you dragged Noct out here?"  
  
"Not entirely. And don't be so flippant, Gladio. You're not the one who found him asleep on the roof of his apartment building early this morning. At least here there can be eyes on him."  
  
"You worry too much." Gladio shifted on the sofa a bit, closing his book after marking his place. "The trip will be fine, Noct will be fine, everything will go over smoothly, alright?"  
  
"No, it's _not_  alright." He crossed his legs and arms, staring daggers at the precariously-sitting folder on the table. "I fear Noct may not be as focused as he should be and is just letting us cart him around, riding through all the motions without being completely present, as it were."  
  
"He's always been kinda like that though."  
  
"You know what I mean, Gladio."  
  
"I do and I don't." He sat up, placing both hands on his knees. "Look, I agree, he really needs to get his ass in gear, but a lot changed in a short time for him. Give him a few days, he'll bounce back."  
  
"And if he doesn't?"  
  
Gladio grinned.  
  
"Then I'll get his ass in gear myself."  
  
"That's not reassuring, Gladio."  
  
"It will be." He stood up, stretching briefly before heading for the door. "Got a meeting with the pops."  
  
"And I should probably rouse His Highness."  
  
"Good luck with that."  
  
And Gladio left, leaving Ignis with the folder, his phone, and his thoughts. He sighed again, adjusting his glasses, and pulled out said phone, navigating to Noctis's contact and pressing the call icon. He put it to his ear, and it rang several times, Ignis gnawing at the inside of his cheek with each one.  
  
_"...Hello?"_  a very tired voice finally answered.  
  
"Good morning," he said in reply, "did I wake you?"  
  
_"Well, the alarm sure didn't."_  
  
Ignis smiled minutely to himself, as that sounded much more like the Noct he'd grown accustomed to over the past two years.  
  
"I will arrive in your quarters in two hours time, be sure everything is in order before I do."  
  
_"Right..."_ A much more dejected reply, and Ignis's heart sank.  
  
"His Majesty will be eagerly anticipating your arrival, then."  
  
A pause, and what sounded like a small sigh.  
  
_"I know,"_  came the reluctant reply.  
  
"Good, I'll be there later."  
  
He ended the call, slumping over his knees slightly, eyes catching on the folder again. Despite what that Glaive had said, he'd combed the laws again and again, searching for any kind of loophole, and all he could find was that appeal Noctis could make, an appeal that had to be heard by the council, and the council had already made its decision on the matter. Once again, it would have been far easier had Noctis had a sibling, for at least they would have another to bargain with, but that wasn't the case.  
  
And, he had to admit, despite the undesirable conditions of the meeting, the Glaive had indeed echoed his own ill feelings on the matter that he was too proud to voice. His Majesty's demeanor during their meeting, the uneasy mannerisms of the other Glaives in the past few days, and even Cor seemed at odds with himself versus what was happening. The impending end to this war should've have been met with relief and praise, but instead the tension was much higher than it ever was during the war itself, and it unnerved him.  
  
In any case, he would be prepared for anything ill that could become of them outside the city. He was certain.

* * *

A bulging bag of clothes and other items stared up at Noctis, another bag nearby was mostly empty save for his favorite fishing lures tucked away in a small tackle box. It'd been nearly two hours since Ignis's rude wake-up call, and, despite one bag nearly full, he felt he hadn't made much progress. Most of the packed bag had already been that way, brought over from his apartment when Ignis very hurriedly drove him to the Citadel in the middle of the night.  
  
What was wrong with sleeping under the stars, anyway? Isn't that why Gladio was bringing all that camping equipment, so they could sleep under the stars on the trip? What was wrong with doing that on the roof of his building?  
  
With an exasperated huff, he turned away from the mess of bags and items on his bed to fuss with the items on his desk. Most of it was useless on a trip, little trinkets and stationery and other items meant for an office setting, but one item caught his attention: a small Carbuncle figurine, the one his father gave him as a child.  
  
He picked it up, carefully, cupping it with both hands as he made his way back to the bed. Finding a place between the bags and mess of clothes, he sat down, studying the figurine with mild nostalgia. It'd been so long since his dad had given him this small trinket, but it still meant so much, even saved his life once, even if it had been during a strange dream in the midst of a coma.  
  
Perhaps that was the cause of his present nightmares: he didn't have the Carbuncle at his apartment, so maybe, just maybe, if he took it on the trip, they would stop, and these thoughts that Prompto straight up hated him would stop and leave him alone, or maybe Carbuncle would show up and save him, like it had before. Anything to have those intrusive thoughts stop; he just wanted to think of Prompto as the Prompto he knew again.  
  
He placed it carefully into the bag with his clothes, into an exterior pocket that had nothing else in it.  
  
Turning away, his thoughts wandered again, to his meeting with his dad later in the day. His skin ached, just as it had since he and Prompto had parted ways, so to speak, but it ached more as he thought of his father, remembering how sorry he'd looked when he'd informed him of the engagement, and how much he wanted to leap over the desk and hold him, and perhaps beg him not to make him do it. Maybe he'd even cry a little, but tucked away in his dad's shoulder, where he wouldn't see it.  
  
But that wasn't appropriate. And his dad wasn't much for hugs, anyway, but even so...  
  
Maybe after the wedding, he could come home to his father, waiting with open arms, and finally get what he needed: a hug from the father who was proud of him, who wanted him to be happy in some form or another, and who actually wanted him around.  
  
His mind was just messing with him, that had to be it; anxiety or something, causing him to have strange dreams of things he hated and feared the most, and left him even more shaken up and tired than before.  
  
A knock on his door, and then it opened. He turned his head to see Ignis enter the room, and he was staring at him quizzically, his brow furrowed.  
  
"Have you finished already?" Ignis asked, surveying the half-empty bag and the almost-full bag.  
  
"Not... quite," Noctis replied reluctantly, hanging his head.  
  
"I guess it can't be helped." He adjusted his glasses. "We have spare time, more than I expected. I was informed on my way up here that His Majesty is too busy to meet with us today."  
  
Noctis's heart sank, and he sighed.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"We can pace ourselves, if you like."  
  
Noctis smiled. Good old Ignis.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I'd like that."

* * *

The van pulled away with a nod from Crowe, and Aquila glanced around at their surroundings from her perch on the bike. Middle of nowhere, in a town ruined from the war. Too many of those, so it was hard to tell which one this was; all they had were the coordinates, anyway, so it's not like it mattered. She leaned forward on her bike, tapping through her phone mounted on the handlebars for their location and swiped through the map.   
  
"Wanna take a shortcut?" she asked with a smirk, which widened as Crowe picked up her helmet. "Really think you need that?"  
  
"It's not just for safety," Crowe replied, lowering it a bit. "You really want people to see your face?"  
  
"Kind of the plan." She gestured around with both hands, almost flippantly. "Eyes on me, they ignore you. Sound good?"  
  
"That's so crazy."  
  
"It'll work, trust me."  
  
She threw up finger guns and gave her an exaggerated wink, but Crowe's eyes had turned away and behind Aquila to look at something up the road. With a pout, Aquila followed her gaze, finding nothing.  
  
" _Heyyy_ ," she whined, looking back toward her. She used her foot to shake Crowe's bike a little, gaining a frown in return.  
  
"Ila."  
  
The tone, abruptly serious, startled her, and her foot stopped moving immediately, bracing against the metal instead. She turned toward the right and gazed up the road again, leaning with her forearms on the handlebars, above where her phone was mounted.   
  
A beat passed, then two, and then a neutral-colored van pulled up from a connecting road, then turned in their direction. It looked like it was going to stay in its proper lane, but it abruptly pulled over into the opposing lane. She narrowed her eyes, bracing her other foot against her own bike, high up near the seat.   
  
It slowed, with the hazard lights on, and when the side door slid open far too quickly, everything stopped.  
  
Every single anxiety that had assaulted her mind up until this moment hit her full force, along with the barrage of memories that came with them.   
  
The invasion, with Fenestala in flames. Her manager, leering at her from the sidelines while she lay collapsed on the ice. Her parents, turning their backs on her while she sat amongst suitcases. Her ex, turning his back on her while she metaphorically did the same. The envoy, giving her a knowing look that turned her blood ice cold.  
  
But her blood didn't run cold now. It ran so _hot_ , and in the split second it took for the door to open to reveal the handgun reflecting the sunlight, she'd recalled every single other time she felt this way, this urgency, magic sparking at her fingertips as she _remembered_. And in that split second, her mind tunneled directly to one thought: right now, all that mattered was that gun.  
  
She rocketed forward, propelling herself with both legs off both bikes just as a gunshot sounded, ripping a lance from the armiger and thrusting it into the vague shape in front of her. Glass shattered and rained down around her as she used the momentum to slam the polearm through the opposing door, impaling whoever or whatever had the gun pointed at them in the first place. The van leaned sideways suddenly, toward her back, and she braced herself on the seats, panting, the burn of using far too much magic setting her blood ablaze, as if she were actually burning from the inside out.  
  
"Knew I should've aimed higher," her assailant choked out, and it was then her vision finally cleared up enough for her to see their, no, _his_  face.  
  
"...Luche?!" She clenched her jaw and twisted the lance impaled through his chest, and he writhed, crying out. "What the actual fuck, dude?!"  
  
"Thought..." he coughed, blood running down his lips. "Thought you'd be on _our_  side."  
  
"The fuck does that mean." She twisted the lance more, somehow driving it even deeper.  
  
He laughed, or what could be called a laugh in his condition, even with blood now dripping down his chin.   
  
"Didn't you get my message?"  
  
"What message?"  
  
He dodged the question.  
  
"Of all people, you should be able to see that the Kingsglaive is nothing, that we're just battle fodder for an old man's war. Especially since..." He coughed again, an ass-eating grin on his bloody face. "Not like he did anything about Tenebrae, did he? Left it behind for the Empire while he stayed behind the safety of his wall. Doesn't that just piss you off?"  
  
She took in deep breaths, her skin growing almost numb, her rage spreading outward and disconnecting everything around her, except the lance in her hands and Luche's smug-ass face. With a steely glare, she leaned into his face, stopping just shy of his ear.  
  
"You know," she said, her voice low, letting a slightly Tenebraen lilt touch her voice, "I'd heal you right now, with this glaive in your chest, only to hear you scream in agony as all your muscles, organs, bones, _everything_  reform themselves much faster than is natural, molding themselves to the blade before I fucking _rip it out of your chest_ , so maybe for one second you'd realize how it feels to have someone you trust betray you like this." She twisted it again, as if to make a point, and grinned when he gagged on a cough. "But I don't have that kind of time, especially for someone like you."  
  
He opened his mouth to respond, but she dismissed the lance and swung her right leg around while bracing with her hands underneath like a low handstand, summoning her modified skates just as her heel reached his throat. The blue shards hadn't even dissipated before the blade sliced its way across his neck, blood spurting out almost immediately. She'd only hit one of the arteries from the looks of the amount, but as he doubled over and let out a sickening gurgling sound, it was clear she'd managed to cut through at least part of his trachea on the way around.   
  
She dismissed the skates in favor of her work-issue boots as she set her feet back down onto the seat and floor. She remained in the van and watched with narrowed eyes as he struggled in the so few seconds he had left of consciousness, then counted backward in her head, waiting it out as he slumped motionless against the door, until the spurting slowed to a dribble. She reached over and checked his pulse on the opposing side of his throat and, finding nothing, turned and hopped out of the van.   
  
Then it hit her. Someone had been driving.  
  
She turned, summoning a dagger and recoiling for a backswing, but stopped short. The driver's window was broken, shattered, and her boots crunched on the shards of tempered glass as she approached slowly, cautiously. She peered over the edge of the window, much easier than normal since the van was tilted toward her, and found the driver not moving and slumped sideways, and... sparking?  
  
She did a double-take, even climbing up into the window a bit to get a better look. She definitely wasn't seeing things.  
  
"A fucking MT..." she breathed, still not believing it even as the words passed her lips. "What the fuck?!"  
  
Her eyes surveyed the damage: it looked like it'd been hit multiple times, probably by swords, but that very well could've been from the window exploding (how'd that happen anyway?), and _something_  had short-circuited it to the point that it was only an empty shell, the glow in its eyes long gone.  
  
"Looks like Crowe's handiwork," she muttered to herself.  
  
Then, she froze, coming back to herself. Kicking off of the side of the van, she spun around toward the bikes, her jaw trembling. Both bikes were on their side, having fallen together like dominos, and she could just barely see a body lying prone behind the farthest one.  
  
"Crowe!" she screamed, her voice cracking and breaking.  
  
She warped to Crowe's side, rolling as she came out of it, hands immediately worrying about her arms, head, legs, finding blood from a wound on her shoulder staining her jacket.  
  
"Crowe, **_Crowe_** , baby, talk to me," she babbled, panic rising in her chest and her voice. "I'm sorry, I should've shielded, I--"  
  
"Calm down, you big baby," Crowe groaned, sitting up gingerly and flashing a wry smile. "If I knew you'd be so cute this worked up, I would've played dead more often."  
  
"Oh _shut up_ ," Aquila growled, running her hand through her bangs and fixing them over her eyes. "That's my line and you fucking know it."  
  
Crowe was fine. She'd panicked for nothing.  
  
Even so, she couldn't stop shaking.  
  
"Just a flesh wound," Crowe said, as if confirming her thoughts. "You wanna take a look to make sure?"  
  
Looking up, Aquila reached out with a gentle hand and grazed Crowe's shoulder. She leaned over, looking to the opposite side and, sure enough, there was an exit wound, but it was large, and jagged, like it was blown open, and there was a strong chance she couldn't see all of it through the tears in the jacket.  
  
"Can you take your jacket off?" she asked quietly, her free hand sliding up to caress Crowe's face blindly.  
  
Crowe moved, shrugging off one side of the jacket, but she gasped and cried out as soon as the injured shoulder moved. On reflex, Aquila pulled her into a tight hug, holding her head into her own shoulder as she tried to catch her breath.  
  
"I'll take that as a no," she said, her voice sounding strained to her own ears. "I need to see how bad it is, though."  
  
She pulled back, her hand on the back of Crowe's neck, eyes searching her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, taking with them the eyeliner and mascara she'd been wearing. Her heart broke, and she thumbed a tear away, smearing black on her face.   
  
"Baby, I need you to trust me, ok?" she said, trying to keep her shaking voice calm.  
  
"I trust you," Crowe replied, her voice cracking, but not as much as she'd expected.  
  
Slowly, gingerly, Aquila slid her other hand under the jacket and around to Crowe's back from under her arm. She caressed upwards, being mindful as to the pressure, until she came across what felt like a gaping hole that had ripped both flesh and cloth apart. It was almost the size of her entire palm, as if something had exploded outward.  
  
"Doing ok?"  
  
Crowe simply nodded, biting her lip as another tear fell.  
  
"It was hollow point," she continued, moving a hand to the back of Crowe's neck again. "You trust me?"  
  
"I told you I do already."  
  
"I know, but..." She pressed her hand flat against the wound as best she could, and Crowe flinched almost violently. "This is gonna be bad."  
  
"Just do it quick, I'll be fine."  
  
Knitting her brows together, Aquila pulled Crowe in close again, pressing her face into her shoulder as best as she could while getting a better angle on the bullet wound with her other hand. A hand, the opposite hand of the injured shoulder, rose up and lightly gripped the back of her jacket, as if to give her the go ahead.  
  
"Bite into my coat if you have to," she breathed, pressing her lips against soft brown hair, and didn't pull them away.  
  
She closed her eyes and focused, the familiar tingle of magic running down her arm and through her hand, manifesting under her palm. It prickled her skin, like the sharp sting of static electricity, but that was only a small taste; the way Crowe flinched and let out a muffled scream into her shoulder confirmed that the pain was still excruciating, just like it always had been, and even the warmth she felt for her couldn't damper it.  
  
It took forever.  
  
Well, not 'forever,' since that would be ridiculous, but long enough that it felt that way. She fought between trying to focus on the healing process, by directing the magic to specifically target such a small area, and wanting to stop the process altogether, so that Crowe would stop writhing in her arms from the pain; it was so hard to focus that she felt the magic falter for a few moments here and there. It slowed almost to a stop when she heard a whimper against her shoulder, pressing her lips into Crowe's hair even more.  
  
"Brace yourself," she whispered, tightening her grip on the back of her neck.  
  
Grasping at every last drop of magic power she could reach, she sent a full-force beam of healing energy into the wound. Crowe flinched and tensed up in her arms, and the pressure on her shoulder revealed teeth sinking into the thick fabric. Even so, Crowe didn't pull away, and Aquila didn't have to keep such a hard grip on the back of her neck any more than she wanted to; if she was being honest, she was bracing herself, as well, but for an entirely different reason.  
  
The agonized sounds fizzled out as the wound closed over, from both sides. The pain would've subsided by now, just a dull ache remaining as the signals from the nerves returned to normal. She caressed Crowe's cheek, urging her away from her shoulder so she could see her face. There were tears again, and she let out a trembling sigh, leaning their foreheads together.  
  
"Don't think I'll ever be used to it," Crowe said, breathless, her voice raw.  
  
"I don't think it's possible," Aquila agreed, wiping away a tear with her thumb. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't apologize for helping me."  
  
She only replied with a breathy chuckle. Leaning down just so, she pressed her lips against hers, gentle and chaste, as if she could soothe the pain she caused. Healing magic wasn't supposed to hurt, and yet here she was, fucking it up.   
  
Maybe he was right, after all.  
  
Pulling away, Aquila gave Crowe's face one last look before she averted her gaze, digging around in a pocket for her handkerchief. Finding it, she handed it over to her so she could wipe her face, and then set her attention on the thigh holster.  
  
"The hairpin's in here, right?"  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"We gotta ditch it."  
  
Crowe froze, halfway through wiping the mascara from her face.  
  
"But... we're under orders--"  
  
" ** _Fuck_  **the orders!" She pointed back at the van, her jaw trembling again. "Luche found us all the way out here, on a confidential mission, where we were the only two other than Drautos who knew where we'd be."  
  
"Luche was in there? What?!"  
  
"He was the one who shot you."   
  
Aquila pulled the box out of the holster and opened it, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Crowe continue to wipe at her face, while staring at the van.  
  
"Well shit."  
  
"I know. And one of those MT fucks was driving."  
  
"They can drive?"  
  
"Apparently." She sighed. "If he knew where we were, then there's no telling who else does, and they're probably using this thing to track us." She held up the hairpin, her hand trembling just slightly.  
  
"What about Luche?" came the inevitable question, as she finished wiping her face.  
  
"Doesn't matter, he's dead." She held out the hairpin in her palm, her eyes lowered. "I think you should go ahead and short-circuit it, so it stops broadcasting the signal."  
  
"Was just about to say the same thing."  
  
While Crowe worked some lightning magic on the pin, Aquila turned her gaze on the van again. All the windows on this side of the vehicle were shattered, and there were dents all over the body, which leaned toward them on now; the tires were completely flat. She didn't remember using any magic, but she remembered the sting just afterward, like when her elemancy would manifest itself seemingly at random in the field. That must've been what happened, due to the short-circuited MT in the driver's seat, but even so...  
  
Her elemancy attacks weren't strong enough to take down an uninjured trooper in one hit.  
  
But something had shattered the glass, and something had done all that damage to the vehicle, but the only answer was her own elemancy. Even though she never saw anything more than the blue flash of her armiger summon.  
  
"It's fried now," Crowe said suddenly, pulling Aquila out of her own head.  
  
"Good, let's ditch it in some lake on the way back."  
  
"Are you sure we should go back?"  
  
"If they came all the way out here just to kill us, there's no way they'll try it in the city."  
  
"Yeah, you're right." Crowe sat quiet for a moment, then reached over Aquila _(gods that was nice)_  and retrieved something from behind her. "Might want to get eyes on the princess, then."  
  
Her phone dropped into her hands from Crowe's, and she allowed a small smile.  
  
"Always right on the same page with me."  
  
"Only because you're the only one as smart as me."  
  
They both laughed, and Aquila stole a quick kiss, lingering close for a moment.  
  
"I'll just be a minute."  
  
"It's cool. Do what you need to do."  
  
With a nod, she pulled away, but kept her free hand on Crowe's shoulder. She unlocked her phone, then navigated to the contact, hitting the call icon. She put it to her ear before the photo could even show up, listening to the rings. One. Two. Three. Four.  
  
Then the characteristic sound of a call connecting, with a familiar hushed voice on the other end.  
  
_"...Aquila?"_  
  
"Hey, I need a favor, you got a minute?" She glanced over at Crowe. "It's about Luna."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis leaves for his trip to Altissia and is having a bad time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for putting up with my irregular posting schedule, here's a chapter.
> 
> Edit: messed up a thing in the last section so I fixed it

A cacophony of beeps and rings jolted Noctis awake, eyes blinking blearily at the just-barely familiar sheets and duvet that surrounded him, images from yet another distressing dream slowly fading from his mind. His hand felt around under the too-fluffy pillows, seeking out the vibration that had so rudely awakened him. His fingers brushed against cold metal and smooth glass, and he pulled his buzzing phone from under the pile of pillows, swiping his thumb across to silence the alarm. His home screen opened just after the alarm closed, a selfie that Prompto took on his phone staring back up at him, with a smile glowing brighter than the sun.  
  
He swiped down from the top of the screen, tapping on the settings menu amongst the other icons and notifications that he revealed. He navigated to Display, then Wallpaper, pulling up the settings for both the home screen and the lock screen. The selfie of Prompto stared up at him again, as did another, though Noct himself was in the second one, an awkward smile on his face that made him cringe; Prompto had said it was adorable.  
  
He tapped on the home screen wallpaper, scrolling down through the stock photos until he found one of Altissia, taken from somewhere off-shore at dusk. He tapped it, following the resizing and cropping instructions, then hit Save.

A dialog box popped up: _Are you sure you want to save?_  
  
He bit his lip, thumb hovering over the screen. He squeezed his eyes shut, an image from his nightmare coming forth again, the all-wrong Prompto, with the floppy hair and devilish eyes, who smiled at him, a smile devoid of sunshine.  
  
_"I never loved you."_  
  
He brought in a sharp breath and flinched, thumb quickly tapping "NO" and closing out of the dialog, pulling up the Wallpaper page again. There Prompto was, sunshine smile and all, in both photos.  
  
His brain was lying to him. It had to be.  
  
He locked the phone and sat it on the too-ornate nightstand, swinging his legs over the bed, socks landing on the rug lain over the polished wood floor. He shuffled his way over to the private bathroom, squinting in offense at the sudden brightness as he flicked on the lights.  
  
This bathroom was much too large, roughly the size of his old bedroom at his apartment, including two bathtubs (claw-foot and spa) and a double vanity for some reason.  
  
Oh, for _that_  reason. For his future marriage.  
  
He leaned with his hands against the counter by the sinks, staring up at himself through his bangs, part of which stuck up in all directions, as did most of the rest of his hair, and _not_  in a stylish way, not with the way the rest of his bangs clung to his face in a matted mess. He ran his hand back through his crown, bringing the hair away from his forehead, trying to fluff it back out to normal.  
  
He caught his own gaze in the mirror and froze, hands still tangled in his own hair. The face staring back at him wasn't his own, but his _father's_ , young, much younger than he had ever known him. He blinked, and the aged image of the father he knew suddenly stared back at him, and he gasped, hands falling to his sides as he stumbled backward, almost falling into the spa tub behind him. Chest heaving from panicked breaths, he dared a glance back at the mirror again, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth.  
  
His own face stared back at him once more, disheveled and spooked, hair sticking up even more now.  
  
He sighed, moving a shaking hand to his face, running up over his eyes and back through his hair again, pulling the bangs back down over his face. So incredibly sleep-deprived he was seeing things in the mirror now, just perfect. If it weren't for those damn nightmares, then maybe...  
  
Maybe he would've had the energy to fight harder. Fight the marriage, fight for Prompto, fight for anything for himself.  
  
But he was just so _tired_.  
  
He jumped, a noise from the main room of his quarters echoing all the way into the bedroom. A ringing, not unlike his phone's ringtone; okay, _exactly_  like his phone's ringtone.  
  
Making his way back into the main room and toward the nightstand, he picked up his phone, a photo of glasses and the word "Specs" staring back at him, as well as a dialogue that read "swipe up to answer call."  
  
He swiped and placed the phone to his ear.  
  
"Hello?" he said, his voice sounding weak to his own ears.  
  
_"Good morning, did I wake you?"_  
  
Ignis.  
  
"Not this time." He turned and walked back into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind him.  
  
_"Good. I trust you'll be ready in the time it will take me to reach your quarters?"_  
  
"Maybe." He let out a sigh.  
  
" _We don't have the luxury of free time today, Noct."_  His voice sounded annoyed, but not nagging, not like usual.  
  
"I _know_ ," he groaned, rubbing at his closed eyes with his fingers.  
  
_"At least don't keep His Majesty waiting."_  Okay, that time he sounded like he was nagging.  
  
"I won't."  
  
_"I would hope not. I'll be there in five minutes."_  A softer tone, and Noct smiled minutely at himself in the mirror, though it was fleeting.  
  
"Kay, bye."  
  
He hung up without waiting for a response.

* * *

Reports. Endless reports.  
  
While Regis knew from the start that the treaty would be met with backlash, he didn't anticipate the sheer volume of passive-aggressive reports from across Lucis, even just from within the Citadel. A pile of read reports sat in front of him on his desk, stacked somewhat haphazardly. To the left of and behind the reports sat a small digital clock, the minute 3 turning to a 4.  
  
He'd have to see Noctis off soon.  
  
Oh how he wished he could put it off, or just outright cancel this entire ruse. Playing into Ardyn Izunia's hands was always the last thing he wanted to do, but what choice did he have? At least this way, Noctis would be safe, and far away, and if he knew what he was leaving behind, he'd never leave. He would stay and die fighting for Insomnia, or worse.  
  
Regis grimaced, his face fighting between a fond smile and an anguished frown. His stomach twisted, hand going over his mouth.  
  
He should have told him; he should have told him everything. The prophecy, the burden on his shoulders, what being the Chosen _actually_  meant.  
  
But would it have made a difference? Noctis was already so distant already, and word from Ignis on his condition the last few days was far from positive. He'd snatched happiness from him in exchange for his life, and, logically, he knew it was for the greater good, that, to keep the world from falling into ruin, this is what he _had_  to do; however, it didn't seem worth it, not by a long shot. He never wanted him to suffer.  
  
It was far too late, now. It was time to look forward and move with the events to the best possible conclusion, even if he'd never see Noctis again. No looking back, not now. Not ever.  
  
A knock at his door and he looked up, not realizing that he'd closed his eyes. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he didn't call out, didn't say a word.  
  
"It's me," came the muffled voice a moment later. A trusted and familiar voice.  
  
"Come in," Regis called out, making hurried work of straightening reports and being sure his composure was just what it should be, despite his feelings.  
  
Cor came through the doors into his study just as he finished making everything look pristine, and he looked up just in time to meet worry on his old friend's face.  
  
"Sorry for coming up here unannounced, Your Majesty," Cor said, his voice hushed slightly.  
  
"I trust you have good reason," Regis replied, motioning to one of the seats across from him. "Please."  
  
Cor didn't sit down, at least not right away, instead sliding a grey folder onto the desk. Regis furrowed his brows slightly, watching as Cor sat down.  
  
"It's urgent," Cor huffed as he settled onto the chair, gesturing to the folder.  
  
Without another word, Regis took the folder into his hands and flipped it open, seeing a one-page memo written on official stationery. Yet another report, and his eyes went out of focus almost immediately, weary from the morning, and from age, most likely.  
  
"Regis..." Cor said softly, staring up with eyes that gave away dread.  
  
"My apologies," he replied, steeling himself to focus on the short memo.  
  
It was then he noticed it wasn't addressed to him at all, and wasn't a general-release memo, either.  
  
_Cor,_  
_I don't know who else I can trust here, but we need to talk._  
_Someone's poisoned the well. Number three might come faster than you expect. Eyes are everywhere._  
_I wish I could give you more information, but I don't know if this letter will end up in the wrong hands._  
_Meet me as soon as possible, before the signing. I honestly don't know what else to do._  
_I don't care if King Regis sees this, as long as he burns it right afterwards. No one else can see it, though, I'm serious. I don't care who it is, they cannot see it, okay?_  
  
Regis furrowed his brows again, eyes scanning the blank space below the words.  
  
"Something the matter, Your Majesty?" Cor asked.  
  
"It's not signed," he stated simply.  
  
"It isn't," Cor confirmed.  
  
"Do you know why?"  
  
"It was handed to me by the one who wrote it."  
  
"And who would that be?"  
  
Regis looked up to see Cor shifting a bit uncomfortably, and he raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I can't say," came the reply.  
  
"Cor..."  
  
"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I can't compromise them. I'm sorry, really."  
  
"And why not?"  
  
Cor didn't reply, and Regis sat the folder flat and open on the desk. He ran his hand over his chin and beard, studying Cor, as well as his expression and body language. It was faint, but he picked up on just the slightest twitch of Cor's left eye, the clenching of teeth in a steeled jaw.  
  
"You're protecting them," Regis said quietly, leaning forward on his arms onto the desk. "This seems to be an emergency, my dear friend, and I would like to be present for whatever their concerns are, or if they have some valuable information that could give us an advantage."  
  
"It goes deeper than that."  
  
"Summon them under a different pretense, perhaps."  
  
"Regis, please."  
  
Cor met his gaze then, an expression reflected in his eyes of the kind he hadn't witnessed for what must have been decades. Closing his eyes, Regis tapped his fingers on the desk once, then twice, the ring suddenly feeling so very heavy, a measure of his guilt. So much regret in his short time in Eos; though, for this particular situation, he had thought that his guilt was fruitless, that there were no real consequences from that particular mistake.  
  
The look in Cor's eyes showed he was wrong, so very wrong.  
  
"This concerns... the name escapes me, it's been so long." He searched through his memory, which seemed so slow anymore, not as sharp as it once was, but not completely barren. "Oh, yes, Aestus."  
  
"It does," came the simple reply.  
  
"I'm already aware of the situation, unfortunately," he admitted, daring a glance down to one of the desk's drawers for a moment. "How long have you known?"  
  
"Not long, a few days, maybe."  
  
"Does she know?"  
  
"It didn't appear so, no."  
  
"Let's keep it that way. And we keep it between us." He met Cor's gaze again.  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"She's the one who gave this to you?" He tapped the letter with his hand.  
  
"She is."  
  
Regis picked up the folder again, reading over the short message again. He smiled weakly, mostly to himself, but he felt it fall slowly from his face as the realization spread the more he looked over the letter.  
  
It was definitely an emergency.  
  
"I must meet with her, immediately, if possible. I only have an hour to spare."  
  
"Say no more."  
  
Cor pulled out his phone without hesitation and began navigating for a contact, as Regis continued studying the letter, searching for any more clues in the wording, anything at all he could use to prepare to speak to her directly. It was so vague, but had just enough information to be intriguing and urgent, especially to Cor personally, and held a coded message that neither of them could ignore.  
  
Noctis was in immediate danger.

* * *

The mid-morning sun burned Noctis's eyes as he walked out from under the shadows of the Citadel's arched entryway. He walked onward into it regardless, his mind as far away from the present moment as possible, especially after meeting with his father in the throneroom. 'In the grace of the gods' he'd said, as if the gods had anything to do with this decision in the slightest. He was being sent away, that much was clear, and he had no choice in the matter now; even if he'd had a choice, that opportunity was gone.  
  
He reached the end of the last landing of the long staircase at the entrance, and he heard the comforting purr of the engine before he saw the Regalia itself, a beacon of childhood comfort in a situation that all but threatened to smother him. He sighed to himself, only minutely aware of Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto talking amongst themselves behind him. Their voices were muffled to his ears, and he could pretend they were just faraway sounds on the wind.  
  
"Your Highness!"  
  
That one he couldn't ignore, a voice accustomed to shouting orders to soldiers across a battlefield that could cut through any form of detachment anyone had. He turned, as had his friends, and he looked up to see Captain Drautos and _his fucking dad_  standing at the top of the steps, though his father was already making his way down, cane and all.  
  
"What now?" he heard himself say, making his way to meet his dad at the start of the landing.  
  
"I fear I have left too much unsaid," Regis said, his voice devoid of the regal tone he'd held in the throneroom, much more suited to their one-on-one conversations.  
  
Noctis reached out his arms to give his dad some form of support, but an outstretched hand stopped him, his heart sinking. Of course he didn't want his help; he didn't want him here anyway. That's why he was leaving.  
  
No, it couldn't be that, he was just anxious about the wedding and upset about Prompto, right? His mind was just playing tricks on him. It had to be.  
  
And while his mind raced on in confusion, Regis continued speaking.  
  
"You place a great burden on those who would bear with you," he said, as Noctis fell into step beside him, trying to match the laborious gait that he didn't fail to notice.  
  
"You're one to talk," he replied dryly, rolling his eyes slightly. "Where do you think I get it from?"  
  
"Oh no, my son," Regis said with a small smile and a chuckle. "Would you believe me if I blamed your mother for it?"  
  
"Not one bit."  
  
"That's fair enough."  
  
Noctis paused at the end of the landing where he'd started, turning to face where his father had stopped several paces back. Regis's gaze was focused past him, on his friends.  
  
"Ignis, Gladiolus, Prompto," Regis said, taking one careful step forward. "I ask not that you guide my wayward son, merely that you remain by his side. Do not lose sight of the road ahead, be mindful of yourselves and each other, and..." He hesitated a moment, though Noctis couldn't read why he did on his face alone. "And never forget the bonds you share."  
  
"Indeed, Your Grace," Ignis said from behind him, just as he looked down to the red under his feet.  
  
"We'll see the prince to Altissia if it's the last thing we see," Gladio added, which stung, for some reason. "You can count on it."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, what he said, we won't let you down," Prompto chimed in, and that _really_  stung, if only because it was Prompto talking like one of his royal retainers.  
  
"Hate to break this up," Noctis spoke up finally, really wanting this to end _now_. "Cor's got the motor running. Drautos, he's in your hands now."  
  
He turned with a wave and started down the stairs, trying to focus on the car in front of him.  
  
"And another thing."  
  
Dammit.  
  
Noctis turned around to face his father again. He brought in a sharp breath at meeting his eyes, something much like longing staring back at him. He bit his lip, fighting every single instinct telling him to run up and latch onto him around his neck, cuddling into a most overdue hug, one he hadn't gotten since he was too young to understand why his father aged so much faster than the other dads. He just wanted to feel that way again, just once.  
  
Though, if he tried it, it probably wouldn't feel genuine, since anyone trying to get rid of him would just placate him until he was gone. The real hug would have to wait until after the wedding, after he returned to Insomnia. He would wait, he had to.  
  
The look in Regis's eyes changed suddenly, a teasing smile on his face.  
  
"Do mind your manners around your bride to be," he continued, and Noctis climbed back up to the landing.  
  
"Your Majesty, as well," he retorted, going into a too-deep bow, affecting his voice in the most exaggerated way possible, if only to hide his own anxieties. "Try to mind your manners around our esteemed guests of Niflheim."  
  
"You have no cause for concern," Regis replied on a laugh.  
  
"Nor do you."  
  
"Take heed." His tone had changed again, and Noctis frowned. "Once you set forth, you cannot turn back."  
  
Noctis sighed and forced a smirk; he had to be making fun of him again. That couldn't be code for "never come back."  
  
"You really think I would?"  
  
"I need only know that you are ready to leave home behind."  
  
Noctis's stomach dropped and he averted his gaze for a moment, fighting to keep his composure. He wasn't leaving for that long, even if he hadn't left since he was eight years old or something. His dad wouldn't be worried about him being anxious about leaving just because of that incident when he was a kid, right? Nah, couldn't be.  
  
"Don't know about you," he said, fighting through his racing thoughts, "but I'm as ready as I'll ever be." The closest to the truth as he could muster as he turned away again, toward the car.  
  
"Take heed on the long road," Regis said, his tone shifting so drastically again that Noctis just _had_  to turn to face him again, just to see why.  
  
This time, it was Regis who approached him, and that longing in Noctis's chest to reach out and cling to his father's royal raiment almost overwhelmed him.  
  
"Wheresoever you should go, the line of Lucis goes with you," Regis continued.  
  
His hand landed on Noctis's shoulder, sending that familiar jolt through him. He didn't relax, though, as comforting as it was. He met his father's eyes and froze; he'd never seen that look on his face before, not once, and it chilled him.  
  
"Walk tall, my son."  
  
"I will."  
  
Maybe it wasn't the best response, but he really didn't know how to reply, not with that hand weighing down on his shoulder, those eyes full of an emotion he couldn't identify burning into his gaze. He almost couldn't breathe, and he rolled his shoulder slightly to get out from under the weight, then turned and headed down for the car.  
  
No one stopped him this time.

* * *

The city buildings rose up over the car as they pulled through the exit of the security checkpoint in front of the Citadel. Noctis sagged in his seat as he let out a sigh, staring out through the Regalia's tinted windows at the citizens walking along the sidewalks. The car wasn't traveling very fast, just the slow crawl of winding through downtown streets, so the people walking by were somewhat clear, flashes into other people's lives in simple moments of their morning commute.  
  
A young woman on her phone, chatting cheerfully as she carried a to-go cup from a local cafe.  
  
A group of teenagers in school uniforms, though not his own alma mater, laughing and joking around with each other.  
  
A father with his young son, stopped at the edge of a crosswalk, the man pointing up at the walking signals, as if explaining how they worked.  
  
It was then they slowed to a stop, just before that crosswalk, and Noctis pulled his gaze away from the window to look past Ignis and out the windshield to confirm that, yes, they'd stopped at a red light.  
  
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, leaning forward to rest his arms against his knees, clasping his hands loosely and rubbing his thumbs together slowly, just barely finding comfort in the soothing motion. Ignis's voice drifted down to him from the driver's seat, but the words got lost somewhere, and the same thing happened when Gladio spoke from beside him.  
  
Ignis's voice, and then Gladio again, over and over (just how long was this red light??), but he couldn't bring himself to pay attention enough to make out the words. He looked out the window again, finding the father and son gone, then looked out the window on Gladio's side, finding them on the other side of the street, where the father had his hand in the boy's hair, speaking soundless words, a proud smile on his face.  
  
Noct pulled his eyes away again, setting them on the carpeted floorboard between his boots.  
  
He should've just gone for it, protocol be damned. It was just a hug, and just from his dad, and isn't that what fathers and sons are _supposed_  to do, anyway? What harm could it have done? Sure the guys might've teased him, Ignis would've nagged him about royal protocol like he had after the meeting, but what was the harm in it?  
  
As if on their own, his eyes traveled up from the floor to the passenger seat. A new voice had joined the chorus in his head, and his gaze locked onto Prompto talking excitedly to Ignis, his face in profile coming into view as he leaned over the center console toward Ignis, his face animated, and entrancing, and...  
  
_"I never loved you."_  
  
Of course. That's the harm that could've happened: he would've been rejected, again. Going beyond that touch on the shoulder, it would've been far too much, and he would've been pushed away. He knew that then and he knew that now, and thinking about the what-ifs wouldn't change anything. No one ever really wanted him.  
  
"Noct?" Prompto's voice made words this time.  
  
He blinked, his eyes focusing again, this time onto sylleblossom eyes staring into his own. A strangled noise came out of his throat, and he _tried_  to pull his eyes away from Prompto's but failed.  
  
"You okay buddy?" he asked, that feigned cheerfulness in his voice. He was faking, pretending, not actually worried about him--  
  
Noct shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut for a few moments. That was crazy, Prom was just nervous, it's how he always dealt with nervousness. Why wouldn't he be nervous? They were going outside the wall for the first time; they were all probably some degree of nervous.  
  
So why the doubt?  
  
"Noct...?" A tone of uncertainty, laced with that cheerful facade.  
  
Gladio shifted beside him and made some kind of noise, and the car's engine hummed upwards as they slowly pulled into the intersection they'd been stopped at for what seemed like an hour. He hadn't noticed the light turn green, since the only color he had been focused on was the most beautiful shade of blue.  
  
He shook his head again, then turned it away, staring out the window again.  
  
"M fine," he said finally, his voice sounding lower than he meant it to, but at least _something_  came out of his mouth.  
  
"If you say so," Prompto replied, shifting car seat sounds indicating that he'd gone back to sitting properly in the car to face the windshield instead of the backseat.  
  
Noct sighed and leaned back in his seat, tipping his head over just enough to see out the back window. The Citadel rose up behind him, and even from here he could make out the red light that rose up to the crystalline wall above the city. A stark reminder that his father might not be here when he got back.  
  
But that was just a fear. He'd stick around long enough to ruffle his hair, just like when he was a kid, and smile proudly at him, and tell him he was proud of what he became.  
  
He had to.

* * *

Regis slumped into his chair at his desk, back in his study, weariness already taking him over, and it wasn't even noon yet. He let out a shaking sigh, mulling over the various conversations from the morning, uncertain about many of them, but certain he made the right decisions today, the best that he could, anyway. Even his decision to bid Noctis farewell as if it were a normal trip.  
  
Then and now, he'd wanted to reach out and hold Noctis one last time, relishing the memory of his son as a small child, before the burden of being the Chosen had been dropped onto his shoulders. But even if he had, he knew he wouldn't have been able to resist saying something that would plant the idea in Noctis's mind that this wasn't just a temporary farewell, but that he didn't expect them to see each other ever again. And then it would have been a fight to get him to leave, and a fight with Ignis's sharp wit and and even sharper blades to get them _both_  in the car, and coupled with the other two, he would have had no choice but to send the car away.  
  
And the consequences would have been disastrous if Noctis had stayed. He was more than certain; he wouldn't make the mistake of taking a vision lightly.  
  
He reached down to the bottom drawer of his desk, sliding it open to a pile of magazines, the last week of April's issue of _I_ _nsomnia Weekly_  on top. He pulled it out, leaving the drawer open, an issue of January's _Weapons Monthly_  beneath it, emblazoned with a shuriken on the cover. The magazine in his hands, however, had a paparazzi photo of a young woman in a tank top, one arm up to adjust her sunglasses, giving a clear view to a colorful tattoo of what must have been the astral Leviathan winding around her forearm.  
  
He flipped through the pages, almost mindlessly, splashes of colorful photos meeting his eyes before they disappeared for another as he went through the magazine, stopping about halfway through, staring at the featured story. He didn't need to read it; he'd already read it twice now, and yet, here he was, reading about the meaning behind a tattoo, full of conjecture and assumptions and out of context quotes to try to explain a decision that must have been extremely personal. It was just shy of printing outright lies to sell copies, and it had succeeded in making him buy one, though perhaps not for the reasons they'd intended.  
  
He sighed again, letting the magazine fall open on his desk, still on the page with the feature, the photo of the tattoo zoomed and "enhanced" on the left-hand page. He clasped his hands and rested his chin on them, closing his eyes, longing for a nap. The image of Noctis leaving and looking at him with barely-contained desperation entered his mind, and he had to open his eyes again.  
  
But the image didn't leave.  
  
He slid the magazine aside, still open to the same page, and reached into the drawer where the other magazines lay stacked. His hand went behind them into where the shadows started, feeling around until his fingers brushed polished wood. He pulled out a somewhat-small wooden box, the clasp secured with a small lock. He summoned a key from the armiger and slid it into the lock, turning it with a soft _click_  as it opened. He let the key vanish and lifted the lid, a short stack of photos within the box, most yellowed with age. He pulled out the meager pile, pulling in a sharp breath as he set his gaze on the top photo.  
  
A candid shot, taken by Clarus probably, of a four-year-old Noctis asleep on his chest as they sat relaxing in his private sitting quarters. He looked so peaceful, so carefree. When was the last time he saw Noctis sleep like that, without scrunching up his face and making soft distressed noises? It had to be twelve years or more.  
  
He shifted the photo to the back of the stack, revealing another photo, an even older one. A more professional photo, taken at his wedding to Aulea, the two of them posing together on the dais in the throneroom, the royal decor of vibrant hues of purple, gold, and black around them. But her smile was the most vibrant part of the photo, her eyes creasing at the corners from absolute happiness, making himself look almost goofy in comparison with his smile he'd _tried_  to contain during the ceremony to maintain dignity, but he'd definitely failed at that; there was proof, as Clarus put it, and Aulea had laughed at him.  
  
Noctis looked so much like her when he smiled.  
  
He moved onward to the next photo, older still, and not the original copy; Cid had that one. He stood by the Regalia, a cup of coffee in hand, while Cid stood adjusting his hat, Cor stood at attention (oh how he has relaxed in his old age), and Weskam stood posing awkwardly with his arms crossed. Clarus was nowhere to be found, as he'd taken the photo, as he had with the others. Noctis would have photos like these from his own trip, he hoped, something to look back on and smile at how young and awkward and carefree he and his brothers were, something to remember the good times before the bad, as life seems to go, especially a life so cursed...  
  
He lifted the photo away, finding the photo of himself with Noctis again, back to the beginning. He sifted through them, seeing if any were stuck together. They weren't, and he sat them carefully onto his desk and looked into the box again. He found the last photo on the bottom of the box and he lifted it out, smoothing a creased corner with his fingers. This one was the oldest, though he was the only one who had aged much at all, at least since the last time he saw either of them. It had been taken at his 20th birthday party, not too long before he'd traveled to Accordo. There was Aulea again, out of her formal wedding attire and in something that was much more _her_ , one of her arms slung over his shoulder. On his other side was another young woman, a girl he'd gone to high school with named Aestus, and who he and Aulea were never without. They were all laughing, probably drunk already, faces washed out from the camera's flash in the dark room they had been in.  
  
Those times were long gone, all of them, and he'd failed them all, as a king, as a friend, and, most of all, as a father.  
  
He placed the photo on his desk with the others and slid the box out of the way, reaching over for a pen and his pile of stationery that sat at one corner. He slid the photos gently out of the way, but didn't remove them, and picked up the final one to place it above the first piece of stationery he spread out in front of him. He let out a final sigh, and then began writing.  
  
It would be another long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so it begins


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bros head out on their roadtrip and Noct has a bad time

Well, that couldn't have gone much worse.  
  
The Regalia had broken down in the middle of nowhere and they had to _push_ the car to this gas station, which was _also_  in the middle of nowhere. And, come to find out, they used something called "gil" as currency here, which wasn't something they had much of, if any.  
  
So, broken down car, barely any money to fix it, and the heat out here was suffocating. At least the diner was air-conditioned, though sitting in one of the booths without ordering anything, just staring off into space... not exactly Noct's best idea. Not wanting to keep tables from paying customers (as if there were many out here to begin with), he settled for the meager shade near the pumps, sitting on the red metal barrier that faced the garage. At least, here, he could keep an eye on his dad's car.  
  
But he could also keep an eye on Prompto, which he found himself doing more and more until he stopped paying attention to the car altogether. Prompto was over by the garage, standing out of the sun near the large open door, talking excitedly with Cindy, the young mechanic who'd greeted them after they pushed the car into the lot. But he wasn't just _talking_  to her, he was leaning in, smiling really wide, and doing that thing he always did with his arms when he was nervous.  
  
Noct blew the bangs out of his eyes with a sigh, sighing more when they just settled back where they were before. Footsteps walked up beside him, he turned, and Ignis approached, looking down at him with a hand perched on his hip.  
  
"We'd only enough gil for room and board, I'm afraid," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And the repairs have depleted all our funds. Perhaps you can work something out with Cindy?"  
  
Noct looked over to where Cindy and Prompto were _still_  chatting, scrunching up his face and crossing his arms, closing himself off from Ignis.  
  
"You should be asking Prompto that," he muttered, crossing his legs, too, because why not. "They seem to have hit it off."  
  
Ignis didn't respond right away, though he could hear the disgruntled sigh, knowing the sag of his shoulders followed directly after.  
  
"Noct," he said, that careful tone coating his voice. "Whether you like it or not, you're the leader of this retinue. You must take charge."  
  
"Yeah, I know," he replied on a sigh, slumping forward onto his knees. "I just..."  
  
"I know. But... do try to pretend, alright?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
He forced himself up from his seat and walked over to where Cindy and Prompto were talking (not flirting, they couldn't be) and cleared his throat, hoping to gain Cindy's attention.  
  
It had somehow worked, for she turned away from Prompto (oh no, he made the most heartbreaking face) and grinned at Noctis instead, placing her hands on her hips.  
  
"Heya, Prince, whatcha need?" she asked, wiping some sweat from her forehead.  
  
"Yeah, um..." he started, giving a quick glance to Prompto, who avoided his gaze. "The price... it's a little steep for a simple tune-up, don't ya think?"  
  
"Ah, I get it now," Cindy replied, letting out a small laugh. "Must've been what Paw-Paw meant by 'teaching them boys a lesson.' Listen, there's some varmints he wanted gotten rid of, and I'll pay ya for it. Should be enough to get ya where y'all need to be, you get me?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, that'd be great."  
  
"Perfect, and uh..." She grabbed his hand and he jumped, that familiar jolt running through him for a split second. "This should be enough for a place to stay. But don't tell Paw-Paw."  
  
"No worries, I won't."

* * *

Those "varmints" Cindy had told them about just happened to be some kind of giant bugs with _really_  big stingers. Ignis had called them reapertails, but Noctis didn't give a shit what they were called; even from a distance, they were gross and he wanted nothing to do with them.  
  
"Looks like we found our first targets," Ignis mused from beside him as they stood from the safe distance near the road. "Ready, Noct?"  
  
"No," he heard himself say, taking a step back.  
  
"Noct..."  
  
"Come on, Cindy's paying us, isn't she?" Gladio spoke up, his sword already slung over one shoulder.  
  
"Yeah," Noct replied, sighing. "Let's do it."  
  
And with that, he warped to the first one, striking down with his Engine Blade, a gift from his father from his last birthday. As he slashed through and broke the reapertail's carapace, he paused for a moment; this seemed somewhat familiar, like something from a dream, this sword cutting through an enemy. He glanced over to his left at bullets that whizzed past him, Prompto doing his best from the back of the group, his Crownsguard-issue gun striking the reapertail to his left.  
  
His eyes went out of focus for a moment, and, for that moment, Prompto's hair seemed to droop and fall against his face, and he fucking grinned at him in pure glee, just as a bullet ended the reapertail he'd been attacking.  
  
Noct took in a sharp breath as their eyes met, that malice from his nightmares freezing him in place, the entire world around him stopping and stalling out, as if he'd been pulled out of reality.  
  
"NOCT!"  
  
Ignis's voice brought him back into the moment just fast enough for him to fall against the parched ground, rolling and grasping his left leg, coming to a rest somewhere behind Gladio's legs. He panted, a searing pain traveling up his leg, into his hip, and ever upwards, everywhere it touched ablaze and searing his nerves.  
  
"Noct!"  
  
Prompto's voice this time, his hand patting at his shoulder, the warm fuzz of healing magic passing through him, as was the comfort of Prompto's touch, as brief as it was.  
  
"Is it poison?" Prompto asked from above him, though he couldn't be sure it was even directed at him.  
  
He rolled his shoulder as Prompto's hand brushed it again, stumbling to his feet as steady as he could manage. The entire left side of his body felt as if it was on fire, his vision blurred and out of focus, and he just barely registered the black shape rushing him as another reapertail, just before his vision filled with Gladio's back, the sharp _ting_  of the stinger bouncing off his summoned shield ringing through Noctis's ears like a metal against glass.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Gladio growled, a hand grabbing Noctis from under his arm. "MOVE IT!"  
  
And the hand hoisted him up, carrying him off, though he wasn't entirely certain where. He barely registered the tall sign for Hammerhead blur past him before everything went dark.

* * *

His head hurt, that was the first thing Noct noticed when his eyes fluttered open to blue fabric over his head. He sat up, rubbing his temples and his eyes, blinking away the bleariness to see the inside of the tent Gladio had insisted on bringing. It was dark inside, though not completely black; he could still somewhat see enough to find the folds of the door to the tent, and stumbled out of it to a campfire, chairs surrounding it.  
  
The guys were sitting in them, he realized, and he could smell the distinct odor of Ignis's cooking drifting over the campsite, his eyes clearing just enough to see the glowing blue inscriptions under his feet in the twilight.  
  
"Back with us?" Ignis asked, standing up with a wide bowl in hand. "The stew should still be plenty warm."  
  
"Stew?" he replied wearily, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles as he took the empty seat that Ignis hadn't been in. "Where'd you get meat for stew?"  
  
"We didn't," Gladio replied, taking a long drink of his beer as Noct felt himself deflate into the chair. "Don't be like that, Princess."  
  
"Yes, it was either this or dry toast," Ignis added, and a warm bowl of some kind of vegetable stew landed in Noct's hands. "Luckily I came prepared for an unscheduled stop, so this should give us all enough strength to take on those pests again in the morning."  
  
"Great," Noctis replied dryly, poking at the offending vegetables with his spoon.  
  
"Whelp," Prompto said, standing up just as Noctis looked up from his stew. "I'm gonna go see if I can get some shots of Hammerhead before the sun goes down." He motioned around with his camera a bit, then hopped down from the campsite, walking off toward the direction of the lights of the garage.  
  
"Don't stay out too long," Gladio called out after him. "You heard what Cindy said about the daemons!"  
  
Prompto simply waved his camera in reply, heading up a hill nearby overlooking the road.  
  
They were definitely farther back than they had been when he'd passed out.  
  
"So, where are we anyway?" Noct asked, looking up at Ignis as he sat back down in his own camping chair.  
  
"A haven, though not one that Takka pointed out on the map for us," Gladio replied, drinking more of his beer.  
  
"Yes," Ignis nodded, crossing his legs as he took a sip of something out of a mug. "We retreated a little farther back than we meant to thanks to the tenacity of those reapertails, and we ended up not far from here. Luckily, Prompto spotted this haven before we reached it."  
  
"Prompto, huh..."  
  
He tilted his head forward, gazing into his stew, his stomach churning not only at the vegetables within, but at the fact that not _once_  had Prompto checked on him, asked if he was okay, not even a pat on his shoulder. None of the others had either, except for the weak attempt Ignis made to check in with him as he came out of the tent.  
  
Though, honestly, they could have all checked on him while he was out of it.  
  
But how would he know for sure? What if he was just hoping for the best, pretending everything was ok, that his friends weren't just putting up with him?  
  
He shook his head, leaning with his eyes into his fist, the contradictory messages from his brain becoming just too much. His stomach churned again, and he just really wasn't hungry, especially for vegetables, and yet he could feel Ignis's prying stare on him the entire time he leaned into his hand, not touching his food.  
  
He tore his hand away and looked up the slope to where Prompto's silhouette stood, hunched over with what must've been his camera pointed toward Hammerhead.  
  
He'd bought that camera for him for his 20th birthday. He'd been so elated, so happy, and his eyes had lit up so brightly that he hadn't been able to stop himself from wrapping his arms around him and kissing his cheek, then his hair, and then they'd ended up in his bed...  
  
He sighed, picking up a spoonful of stew and forcing it into his mouth. It didn't taste bad, but not good; it was as if it was devoid of any flavor at all, just like meals he would have in the royal dining room with his dad. He chewed and swallowed, then ate another bite, not taking his eyes off Prompto at the top of that overlook.  
  
Just what had him so fascinated with Hammerhead, anyway?

* * *

The lighting wasn't any good, he'd known that before he'd headed out to the overlook to take photos of the garage. But a guy could hope, couldn't he?  
  
After all, Prompto needed some kind of excuse to get away from camp, after spending the time between them getting to that haven and Iggy announcing the food was ready sitting in the tent at Noct's side, making sure he was still breathing after taking a stinger to his leg. Iggy hadn't said anything, just gave him a look that seemed almost disapproving, but also sad in a way.  
  
But that was probably because Iggy had stuck his head in the tent just as he'd pressed his lips to Noct's for the briefest moment, just to see if they were still warm. And they were, but there was no response, and Iggy had walked in so quickly he didn't have time to see if he had woken Noct up before he scrambled embarrassed out of the tent.  
  
Though, judging by how much longer Noct had taken to get out of the tent, he hadn't had any influence at all. Or maybe he'd stayed in the tent, pretending to still sleep, pretending that they hadn't had the most minute of kisses when they really shouldn't have.  
  
He lifted his head from his camera, looking out to the lights of Hammerhead, the garage door closing as the sun started disappearing over the horizon. He really needed to head back.  
  
He stood, dusting off his pants, making sure his camera was turned off and in its case before he descended the small hill that led back to their campsite. As he walked, he pulled out his phone, unlocking it to his wallpaper, which was muddled by the round app icons on his home screen. He navigated to his photos, scrolling to a folder called Favorites, and opened it to a sea of Noctis thumbnails staring up at him. He tapped on one and opened it, where the photo of Noctis in front of the Citadel, the photo from his wallpaper, gleamed up to him in the slowly-growing night, giving him just enough light as he walked back toward the camp.  
  
That lighting looked so good on Noctis. Maybe he'd get lucky and snap a shot like that at his wedding, looking just as happy and at peace; he didn't need him to do that. If he did, then...  
  
He glanced up suddenly, spotting the blue lights of the haven as well as the glow of the campfire, much closer than he'd anticipated.  
  
He closed the photo app and locked his phone, steeling his jaw and his gaze upward, at Noctis with his back to him, squatting by the fire, alone.  
  
It was now or never that he was ready for Noct to be married off, and he'd prove it, too, in the morning. He was gonna bounce back, he had to, somehow.

* * *

Noct stared into the flickering flames of the campfire, squatted down, arms draped on his knees. His left knee ached, but he really didn't care; Ignis would just have to nag him about it later. He just didn't want to get dirt all over his pants again, not after already cleaning them after his tumble in the dirt earlier.  
  
Speaking of his pants, something swiped at them from behind and lightly smacked his butt. He jumped a little and turned his head just slightly, seeing Prompto behind him, the campfire lighting up his grinning face and dancing across his freckles. It was really cute.  
  
"Heyyy, Noct," Prompto said, his tone nervous and also cute, even more so as he crossed his arms. "I've got this, uh, thing, yeah, a thing. Be a pal and come with me tomorrow morning? Pretty please???"  
  
Okay, the way he said 'pretty please' was too adorable for words, and Noct lost _all_  of his words for a second, and also lost all awareness of being engaged and not being with Prompto for a moment, his eyes locked onto Prompto's as he stared, his eyes pleading at him.  
  
It was the same look he gave him two nights before, at the Kingsglaive training grounds, when he'd flat out lied about being busy so he wouldn't have to hurt any more than he already did.  
  
No lying this time.  
  
"Alright," he said finally, crossing his arms. "No need to beg."  
  
"Woohoo!" Prompto cheered, that elation in his voice soothing the ache in Noct's chest just enough that he could smile. "I owe you one! I'm beat, though, let's hit the hay."  
  
"Okay."

* * *

Noct definitely didn't sleep well at all that night. Mats on cold stone weren't comfortable in the slightest, and sleeping so close to Prompto was _extremely_ distracting, but they hadn't had much choice, not after Ignis and Gladio had already turned in and taken up half the tent (most of that had to be Gladio's fault). And even with the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, his nightmares didn't go away at all.  
  
Luckily, when Prompto shook him awake to drag him outside the tent, he barely remembered what the nightmares were even about. Something about the caravan near Hammerhead (why didn't they just stay there??).  
  
Oh well, it wasn't important. Dreams were just dreams, nightmares were just nightmares. And Prompto wanted to hang out with him this morning, alone, so that counted for something. The fake Prompto in his dreams was fake, and what he said was fake.  
  
Right?  
  
Noct shook his head and then yawned, setting his attention on Prompto as they walked down from the haven.  
  
"So, what's this 'thing' you got anyway?" he asked, unable to keep another yawn from interrupting his sentence. Six, he was _tired_.  
  
"Well, uh, it's not a 'thing,'" Prompto responded, skipping in his step and ending up ahead, where Noctis couldn't see his face. "It's a picture."  
  
"Uh-huh, okay," he replied, feeling a twinge of annoyance at being woken up for a photo shoot. "Of what?"  
  
"Of the grease-monkey goddess..." Prompto's voice got really weird and over-dramatic, and Noct almost tripped over a rock in their path.  
  
"Who??"  
  
"Cindy!" Prompto replied as if he was supposed to know who he was babbling about.  
  
Well, part of Noctis did know that's who he meant, and that same part of him lit itself on fire.  
  
"Dude, really??"  
  
"No no no not like a stalker or anything, just an innocent display of affection, that's all."  
  
"Innocent, _right_. Like that photo you took of me sleeping?"  
  
There was a pause, and Prompto stopped in his tracks for a moment, but he didn't turn back. He was looking ahead and to the right, and Noctis followed the gaze, to where the sign for the Hammerhead outpost stood high above the landscape.  
  
"Yeah, innocent just like that," he replied finally, and quietly. All the excitement had left his voice, and Noct's heart sank. "And we'll take it from that spot over there, overlooking Hammerhead." He pointed to the place Noct saw him scouting last night.  
  
So that's what he'd been doing. This wasn't about them at all, but about him being suddenly all about Cindy, like he had been the day before. It would've been amazing if she'd had time to help Cid fix the car if they hadn't left to hunt those reapertails.  
  
Oh, right, they still had to do that today.  
  
"So why don't you just ask her for her picture?" Noct heard himself say through the onslaught of thoughts rushing through his head.  
  
"Dude, no, that'd be creepy!" That excited tone was back, and Prompto was back on his trek to the hill, and Noctis followed.  
  
"Seriously?" he groaned in reply, his feet heavy as he followed. "Can't believe you woke me up early for _this_."  
  
Prompto didn't respond, but ran farther ahead, reaching the edge of the overlook before he even crested the hill. This hiking wasn't doing his leg any favors either, and he had to stop about three feet behind Prompto to take the weight off of it and give it a short rest. It would be great to have the car back as soon as possible, especially since they had to walk all the way back to where those 'varmints' were on this uneven terrain. Hopefully his knee would stop aching by the time they got to Altissia; how was he supposed to walk like the royal he was with a royally-fucked up leg?  
  
And, the sooner they got the car back, the sooner Prompto would stop hovering around Cindy. Even looking at him now, looking so happy and doing some kind of dramatic speech at the garage (what was he saying anyway?), he knew he should've been happy for him, that he'd moved on quickly, but it just seemed way too quickly, like he had just been waiting for the opportunity to come up so he could jump on the first cute person he saw, someone with a lot more experience than Noct ever had--  
  
"That the prince I see?"  
  
Speak of the grease-monkey and she'll appear.  
  
Prompto nearly jumped out of his skin, scrambling over next to Noct just as he turned to face her.  
  
"C-Cindy?!" Prompto stammered out, shifting around nervously and folding and unfolding his arms, as if they weren't fitting correctly.  
  
"You're not supposed to be here--" Noct started to say.  
  
"Just on one of my early morning hikes," Cindy cut in, and it was then Noctis noticed not a single mark of grease on her; she must've just gotten up, like them. "Ain't it beautiful up here?" She walked past them out to the overlook, folding her arms behind her head. "One of my favorite spots."  
  
She got quiet for a moment, staring out at the garage much like Prompto had a moment ago, though without the strange speech that Noctis still couldn't remember. The part of Noctis that was on fire suggested she was showing off, and a side glance at Prompto confirmed that it was working.  
  
But the rational part, the part that was currently winning, told him it was just his imagination, and that if Prompto wanted to get enamored with someone new, he was allowed that luxury. He could _choose_  who he wanted.  
  
And that choice wasn't him.  
  
Cindy turned then, dropping her arms down and looking from Prompto to Noctis and back.  
  
"So, what're y'all doing here?" she asked, and Prompto made a weird noise beside him.  
  
"Oh, well, uh, y'see, um..." Prompto stammered out, and Noct glanced over to see him leaning in kind of close, which was nice.  
  
Guess he needed a hand, so he could at least try, so he leaned toward Prompto's ear as close as he dared, and whispered _"came to take your picture"_ as discreetly as possible.  
  
Prompto made a noise like he was choking on words, and then made noises that almost sounded like words, and then Noct was looking straight into his face, into freckles, but also into a tense jaw and stressed-out blue eyes.  
  
"What are you trying to make me say???" Prompto hissed at him through clenched teeth, and his stomach dropped a little bit.  
  
"What was that?" Cindy asked, putting her hands on her hips and glancing up at the sky. "Shoot, it's that late already. I'd better skeddale and get back to working on the Regalia for y'all, don't wanna keep ya. See ya later!"  
  
And off she went, hiking down from the overlook and back toward the garage.  
  
Prompto bumped shoulders with him and whined, and for a second, Noct thought he had leaned into it a little more than he should have, but it also could've been his imagination.  
  
"No~ct!" Prompto whined, and that time he definitely leaned into his shoulder more than he should have, and Noct froze. "You scared her away!"  
  
"Uh, yeah, sorry," he fumbled, not feeling as sorry as he probably should have, either. "My bad, was just trying to help."  
  
Despite the words that came out of his mouth, he felt almost relieved, especially as they walked back to camp, where Ignis and Gladio were waiting with breakfast, and no Cindy in sight.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of them," Gladio mused with a huff, his sword disappearing into blue-white light.  
  
Noct leaned over and took in a few deep breaths, having seen his life flash before his eyes a few too many times as those reapertails tried to repeat yesterday's mishap. If Gladio hadn't been there, it definitely would have.  
  
His phone's ringtone broke through his panting, and he reached into his pocket, fumbling around for it.  
  
"Who could this be?" he asked no one, swiping up to answer the call. "Hello?"  
  
_"Hey there, prince! How goes the hunting?"_  
  
Cindy. Of course.  
  
"Uh, great, we just finished, actually."  
  
" _Good! Listen, I got one more hunt for y'all, but it's for a person."_  
  
"A... person?"  
  
_"Yeah, we sent a hunter out some time ago for them varmints and he ain't been back yet, got me worried sick. Goes by the name of Dave, and should be holed up in one of them there shacks out yonder."_  
  
"Uh... shacks?" He looked around, and saw what might have been a shack, but also could have been a barn. Barns can be shacks, right? "Got it, we'll go find him."  
  
_"Thanks a bunch, prince. Bye now!"_  
  
"No problem, bye."  
  
Prompto hopped over to him and his hand patted his back, causing him to jump.  
  
"Was that Cindy?" Prompto asked, his eyes sparkling.  
  
Noct found himself both loving and hating it.  
  
"Yeah, she said we need to find someone named Dave."  
  
"She have any idea where this 'Dave' is?" Gladio asked, crossing his arms.  
  
"She said he's in a shack nearby, like that one." He pointed at the shack or barn or whatever it was, and grimaced as his second look revealed that its structural integrity was probably not sound at all.  
  
"We'd better not waste time, then," Ignis said, pushing up his glasses as he approached, giving him _that_  look, that he needed to lead the way.  
  
With a sigh, Noctis relented, too tired from the fight and the morning's events to even attempt to argue or retort at all.  
  
Getting to the shack was easy enough, though the terrain could've been a little kinder on his knee than it was, and he took the lead like he was supposed to, entered the shack/barn first, and took a cursory glance around.  
  
It was barren, save for a makeshift table with an envelope and piece of paper on it. He locked his eyes onto it and walked over, leaning over the paper to get a better look at it.  
  
He only picked up the words "dualhorn" and "bounty" before Ignis yelled at him from near the door. He whipped around just in time to see several creatives, almost like big cats with really big teeth, swarm the area inside the structure. One jumped straight at him and he moved his arm up, preparing to phase, but something knocked him down before he could react, gunshots sounding out in front of them.  
  
The creature went down, and Prompto turned around and grabbed his arm and hoisted him to his feet.  
  
"You okay, buddy?" he asked, and didn't let go of his arm.  
  
"I'm fine," he replied, and didn't move to pull his arm away.  
  
Time stopped, and he got lost in freckles, and Prompto wasn't moving away. Maybe, just maybe--  
  
"Look out!"  
  
Ignis's voice cut through the tension, and they tore themselves away, one of the tusked creatures flying between them as they separated. Prompto turned and fired toward the other wall, and Noct drove his blade into the one that had so rudely interrupted them.  
  
Interrupted what?  
  
He shook his head, taking a step back to survey the rest of the shack.  
  
A bunch of dead tusk-creatures, and no sign of any Dave.

* * *

They found Dave in a completely different shack (the first one was a barn, obviously), and had to take down even more of those tusk things; Ignis had said they were sabertusks, though Noctis wasn't exactly listening to anything else he said about them, thinking about other more important things. He could've sworn Prompto had tried to kiss him in the barn back there, but was that also his imagination?  
  
What wasn't his imagination anymore?  
  
Okay, what _wasn't_  his imagination was definitely that dualhorn they fought after finding Dave, and the conversation with Cindy about the car being fixed, as well as something about a delivery to a hotel on the way to Galdin Quay.  
  
So maybe the only things that were his imagination were the moments with Prompto, and Prompto hating him, and other Prompto things. After all, Prompto was allowed to move on, he even promised he would. Just because he was getting married, it didn't mean they'd stop being friends or anything, and it wasn't fair to Prompto to want him to stay single forever, especially if it made him unhappy.  
  
That was the opposite of what he wanted.  
  
So, as they pulled away from Hammerhead in the now-fixed Regalia, and Prompto started not-so-vaguely-hinting that he wanted to come back to Hammerhead and see Cindy again, Noctis found himself smiling.  
  
He can handle Prompto moving on, he's fine, it's cool.  
  
Though, as he looked outward toward the parched landscape as they drove to another outpost, his stomach twisted and his chest ached, and he was still just so tired. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see Insomnia anymore from the car. He saw his dad's face, telling him to walk tall, and he sighed, sitting back in his seat to try to relax somehow.  
  
Maybe a stay in that motel they were heading toward was a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whelp


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The roadtrip continues and Noct's getting touchstarved again.

Longwythe was just as sparse as Hammerhead was, and it didn't even have a convenience store; instead of a garage, there was a somewhat-sketchy motel with a gas pump out front, and, instead of Takka's diner, there was a Crow's Nest, something he actually recognized. Prompto brightened up when he saw the diner, but Ignis had shut him down somehow with a quip about gaining weight.  
  
It was just a joke, but okay.  
  
Noct found himself leaning against one of the support beams of the colonnade-like porch near the clerk's window, while said clerk unloaded the delivery from the car and carried it inside. He yawned, not even bothering to stifle it; he'd crossed his arms already and they were too heavy to move. His gaze ended up on the sky, the sun still high; dusk needed to hurry and show up so he could have an excuse to sleep, here, where there were beds, where he could close his eyes and not see his bouncy and cute ex-boyfriend in his peripheral view every five seconds.  
  
Something barked from somewhere behind him, and he jolted out of his semi-trance, his head turning on reflex toward the sound. A black and grey spitz trotted up to him, and he let himself smile, stepping away from the pillar and squatting down to give the dog a soft pat on his head.  
  
"Hey, Umbra," he said, keeping his voice low.  
  
"That dog's got an amazing sense of smell," Gladio said from behind him, as heavy footsteps approached from roughly the same direction.  
  
"What'd you bring us, boy?!" Prompto asked from beside him, using that special voice he only used for small animals.  
  
It was annoying.  
  
Noctis focused his attention entirely on Umbra, blocking out the voices behind him into a rumbling haze of sound just as Ignis started to reply. He pulled the leather-bound notebook from the pack on the dog's back, flipping through the pages of memories, passing over stickers he'd sent and postcards she'd returned, until he came to something entirely new.  
  
A sticker, with an artwork inspired by a stained glass interpretation of Tenebrae, lay centered on the page, with Luna's characteristic handwriting beneath it.  
  
_"It's come time for me to leave Tenebrae."_  
  
He smiled again, letting his gaze soften on the page. He was fortunate, in a way, that he'd been arranged to marry Luna. He'd been primed ready for a total stranger that he'd have to get to know shortly before the wedding, if at all, but he already knew Luna, and had kept in touch all these years, echoing his parents in a way. A poor substitute for Prompto, but at least she was someone he got along with.  
  
And she was already on her way to Altissia, just like him, so he didn't have long to ponder and regret about things, or psyche himself out with anticipation.  
  
He pulled his attuned pen out of the Armiger and wrote his reply, quickly, leaning over it a bit to hide the pages from the guys. Something tapped on his shoulder and he jumped, shutting the book with a muted _thump_.  
  
He turned his head to see Ignis holding out a sticker he'd picked up from the shop in Hammerhead: a print of the outpost's circular logo. Noct took it and reopened the book to the page he'd written on, sliding the sticker off the wax paper and pasting it on the page above his message.  
  
_"Just left the Crown City."_  
  
He closed the book again and reached over Umbra, sliding it back into the pack strapped around his chest. He gave him a scratch behind his ears and smiled once again, Umbra looking up at him with that happy panting face.  
  
"Alright, take care out there," he said, giving one last pat to his head.  
  
Umbra stood right on cue and turned, taking off toward the parched field beyond the motel's lot. Noct stood as well, wincing a bit as his knee protested from both the sudden weight and change of position.  
  
"So, I know~, you're not gonna tell me," Prompto spoke up from behind him, and Noctis took in a long breath.  
  
"Then don't ask," he replied with staccato, sensing him coming around on his left. He didn't turn to him.  
  
"What was that about?" Prompto asked anyway, the forced lightness to the tone just so incredibly _annoying_.  
  
"I said **_don't ask_** ," he snapped back, tearing himself away and aiming for the long way around the car in his hurried escape.  
  
What he escaped from wasn't immediately clear, but whatever it was, it could be the only reason his chest ached and eyes stung, and it kept getting worse each time Prompto opened his big mouth. Like his mere presence just pissed him off.  
  
As he rounded the car, the staffer from the motel who had helped his boss unload the delivery approached him, waving a hand out. Noct paused in his steps, mostly out of courtesy, and set a wary gaze on the guy.  
  
"Hey, there was something in the delivery addressed to Meldacio," the staffer said, holding up a small envelope, bulging just slightly in two places roughly the size of crackers.  
  
"Meldacio?" Noct repeated back to him, his mind hazing over as he tried and then failed to recall what a Meldacio was.   
  
"Headquarters of the hunters, I believe," Ignis said, and Noct turned to see him walk up beside him with one hand adjusting his glasses.   
  
"See that small building over there?" the staffer asked, pointing toward a small metal shed across the street next to the Crow's Nest, where a man stood out front next to a not-Umbra dog. "Could you take it to that hunter for us?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure," Noct replied without thinking, taking the offered envelope. The contents shifted slightly, putting much more weight than he expected in one spot.   
  
"Thanks, we've got our hands full as it is. And if you guys need a place to stay the night, we'll give you a room tonight at half price, as thanks for your help."  
  
"Oh, cool." He blinked, then blinked again, his mind stalling out as it failed to usher up more of a response.  
  
"We thank you for your hospitality," Ignis spoke up, filling the silence left by Noct's foggy mind. "We'll take you up on your offer if the need arises."  
  
Noct turned then and walked off, crossing the street without even looking; wasn't like there were many people out anyway. He heard the staffer reply to Ignis behind him, but didn't hear any discernible words. Must've not been too important, since Ignis and the other two caught up to him by the time his boots hit the broken and decaying asphalt that surrounded the shack.  
  
"Oh, it's you boys," the hunter said as they approached. "Hope that dualhorn didn't give y'all much trouble."  
  
Noctis stopped dead, his heart rate spiking. His mind and eyes finally focused long enough to notice the hunter in front of them was none other than Dave.  
  
The sudden panic was a mystery.  
  
"Oh, hey, Dave," Noctis said, the words just stumbling off his tongue as he struggled to find composure again.  
  
"Your leg any better?" Gladio asked, walking up a little closer than Noct had, his arms crossed.  
  
"You don't need to worry about that, but yeah, it is." Dave's eyes fell on Noct's, then went down toward his hand, and Noct followed down to the envelope he was holding. "I don't suppose you boys came over here just to check on me, did you?"  
  
"Sort of," Noct replied, holding the envelope out to him. "We were making a delivery across the street and this was addressed to the hunter's HQ."  
  
"Ah," Dave replied simply, taking the envelope and ripping it open in the same motion. Upon looking inside, he let out a long and deep sigh. "Looks like they found another one..."  
  
"Wait, uh--" Prompto stammered, as if he'd spoken before the words even made their way into his head. "Found another what?" There they were.  
  
"Tag." Dave folded over the end of the envelope, then placed it inside his weathered leather vest. "Us hunters keep them on our person at all times as identification."  
  
"What-- in case you forget who you are?"  
  
Noctis blinked, then glanced over at Prompto, narrowing his eyes. Was he being clueless on purpose?  
  
"More like so no one else forgets who they _were_ ," Gladio chimed in before Noctis could open his mouth; not like he was gonna say anything anyway. Honest.  
  
"Hunters lead a life of danger," Dave continued, his hand brushing over his own tags. "Sometimes these tags are the only things that make it back in one piece, so it's our job to deliver them to the families of the fallen. As it were, I came out here to do just that."  
  
Noct's throat rumbled out a weak noise as he tried to say something, anything, but he was at a loss for any sort of reply. What a morbid thing to have to do.  
  
"Word is somebody spotted a tag around these parts." He pointed toward the Crow's Nest next to the shed, gaining his dog's attention. "Try asking the guy running the diner, he'll point ya in the right direction."  
  
"Thanks, will do," Noct nodded.  
  
He turned to Ignis and set a steady gaze on him, and Ignis returned his stare. He shrugged slightly and looked toward Dave, then back at Ignis, and got a sigh in return, as well as an exasperated fiddling of glasses.  
  
"We've the time, I believe," Ignis conceded.  
  
Noct let a smirk touch his lips and headed toward the diner.   
  
This would be a good distraction from sitting in the car for another hour.

* * *

"So, thinking about fairy-tailing Lady Lunafreya back to the Crown City?"  
  
They weren't three meters from the diner before Prompto opened his mouth, and _of course_  he mentioned the wedding. Noctis sighed, holding up the map Cindy had given them, noting the red mark where the owner of the Crow's Nest said the missing hunter was headed.  
  
"Haven't really thought about it," he mumbled in reply, setting off in the direction he figured the mark pointed toward.  
  
"Dude!" Prompto squeaked, catching up with him on his left. "You can't be serious! Any guy would be over the moon to marry her, and that guy is you!"  
  
"No big deal." That uncomfortable twinge had spread from his chest into his stomach as they approached the area indicated on the map.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Prompto scoffed, stepping away to stand at the side as they approached the remains of a campfire, his arms crossed behind his head. "Don't have to act so _cool_  about it."  
  
"I'm not being 'cool' about anything, I just haven't been thinking about it."  
  
Several empty green glass bottles littered the area around the campfire ashes, some laying on their side, and none with labels. Ignis approached from his other side and knelt down to pick up one of the bottles, turning it over in his hands.  
  
"I still can't believe you're tying the knot though, dude," Prompto continued, and Noct felt a muscle just below his eye twitch.  
  
"Yeah, well, neither can I!" he snapped back, letting out a huff through his nose. "If you're so preoccupied with her, why don't you marry her instead!"  
  
A beat, and then two. And what followed was silence, finally. He sighed, relieved, and knelt down next to Ignis, setting his eyes on the leftovers from the campfire. His eyes wouldn't focus, but at least he could pretend he was doing something.  
  
"Noct..." Ignis breathed.  
  
"What is it?" he asked sharply, turning his head to look Ignis straight in his face.   
  
Ignis had stopped examining the bottle in his hand and instead had all of his attention narrowed onto him. Noct shrank back a little bit, feeling that need to disappear into himself at that all-too-familiar expression.  
  
"Hey, Noct," Gladio said from behind him.  
  
"What."  
  
"Don't take this the wrong way, but--"  
  
_Grwwwl_.  
  
Noct stood up at once, turning toward the noise. The only thing in that direction was more parched grassland and a short ridge of rock.  
  
"Did it come from there?" he asked, pointing to whatever was beyond the ridge.  
  
"Think so," Gladio replied, his greatsword materializing at the same moment he spoke.  
  
"Let's go, then," Ignis said, his hand landing on Noct's shoulder for a short pat, which sent a jolt through his nerves. Again.  
  
"Y-Yeah," Noct said, jogging ahead without looking back.  
  
Only part of him realized that Prompto hadn't said a word, and it was one he tried to ignore.

* * *

More sabertusks. At least five of them, scattered in the small area near the ridge that they hadn't been able to see from the campsite.   
  
Gladio ran ahead and swung down on the first one he came to, where it died with a pained howl. Noct warped to one to the left and behind the first, landing a warp strike right on its head. It yelped as one of its tusks shattered to pieces. It stumbled backward a moment and shook its head, and he leapt forward and swung his blade in a wide horizontal arc, shredding its face and neck. It fell backward with a broken howl, dead.  
  
Gunshots ran out to his right, then another howl, followed by another as Ignis slid into his vision, a pole arm disappearing into blue light. No more movement, no more sabertusks, and Noct dismissed his blade, dusting off his hands, the sensation soothing and final.  
  
Wait, he could've sworn there were five...  
  
A surprised cry and a growl rang out behind him. He whipped around, a flash of tawny brown and black, red, **_blond_**. He warped, landing with Gladio's greatsword in hand, holding it up in a block as claws landed and glanced off of the blade. He switched it for his own blade and swung twice, then three times, then four, and the sabertusk went down, its broken howl barely a whisper.  
  
Panting, he dismissed the blade, turning toward Prompto behind him. Prompto stared up at him from the ground, his eyes wide, freckles lost in cheeks dusted with crimson and sweat, blond hair hanging over his face.   
  
"Noct..." Prompto breathed, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, his eyes wide as if pleading with him.  
  
"Are you okay?" Noctis asked, eyes searching over his body, trying not to linger anywhere, but he did anyway, especially at the rapid rise and fall of Prompto's chest.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." Prompto waved his hand, and Noctis brought in a sharp breath; there was blood on his arm.  
  
"Like hell you are."  
  
"No really, I'm fine!"  
  
Noctis knelt down and reached for Prompto's arm by his wrist, closing over his cuffed bracelet. He brought it forward, so he could see better. Along his forearm was a long gash, traveling up almost to his elbow. It was bleeding, and bad.  
  
"Ignis!" he called over his shoulder, pulling a potion from the armiger and shattering it above the wound.  
  
The bleeding stopped, but that was all the potion did, the gash still an angry red tear through his arm.  
  
"Noct, I'm fine, really," Prompto protested, the bracelet sliding over his wrist as he tried to pull away; Noctis held firm. "It's just a scratch."  
  
"Let Ignis look at it and we'll see," he replied, surprised at how shaky his voice sounded to his ears.  
  
"It's not a big deal, you don't need to pretend it is--"  
  
"I'm not pretending!"  
  
Prompto's mouth snapped shut. Noctis looked up from his arm to his eyes and pulled in a breath. Prompto blinked at him once, and then twice, his mouth twisting a bit. Then, his head turned away and he couldn't see his eyes anymore, his fringe falling over and shadowing his face.  
  
Noctis's own eyes stung, and he released Prompto's wrist, where it fell into his lap. He stood and stumbled back a bit, only to be caught by his elbow with a gloved hand. He turned his head to see who grabbed him, and found Ignis staring down at him with _that_  look, the one he gave him at the campfire a few minutes prior.  
  
"Specs..."  
  
Ignis released him and approached Prompto, kneeling beside him and fussing about with the wound for a few moments. He pulled a first aid kit from the shared armiger and went to work, and Prompto just let him, no complaints, not even a sound.   
  
A thump on his back and Noct turned, looking up at Gladio staring down on him. Noct let out a small huff and pulled away, eyes searching the area for any excuse to walk away from whatever this was.  
  
"Noct--" Gladio began.  
  
"Gonna go find those tags," he interrupted, waving him off with his had. "Isn't that what we came for?"  
  
"Yeah, it is." He sounded annoyed.  
  
"Okay, then."  
  
And Noct walked off, not really meaning to go in any particular direction; anywhere but there, with Prompto injured, and Prompto resisting him, and Prompto--  
  
He tripped, stumbling over something in his path, barely catching himself on both hands on the ridge in front of him, which he almost ran into by not paying attention. A brief shock of white-hot pain shot up his leg and he winced, pulling in a few deep breaths. He'd definitely feel that later.  
  
He glanced down, where he'd tripped, and found two tattered boots lying next to each other; they looked similar to the type that Dave had been wearing, but probably smaller. Kneeling down, he looked around near the boots, dirty scraps of clothing scattered in the parched grass and on the dusty ground. A glare of light caught his eye, and he scooted a bit closer and picked up something-- two somethings-- metallic and square, and jumped slightly as a broken chain slid through and out of the punched holes.  
  
Yeah, these were definitely the tags.

* * *

"Found them already, did ya?" Dave asked as Noctis handed the tags over. "You did good."  
  
"Just... uh..." Noctis's voice trailed off for a second, very aware of Prompto's eyes on him from behind. "Just picking up the pieces, I guess."  
  
"Didn't mean for one of you to get hurt." He nodded toward where Prompto was, where he'd obviously noticed his bandaged arm.  
  
"It's nothing serious," Ignis replied.  
  
"Yeah, no big," Prompto spoke up, that feigned cheerfulness on so thick that it Noctis felt nauseous. "I'll be okay."  
  
"Good, good," Dave said, slipping the tags into the envelope with the others from earlier. "Since I'm the one who sent you boys, have some of these. You'll get more use out of them than I would, I'm sure."  
  
Noct reacted just in time to catch several hi-potions between his hands, tossed to him by Dave. He nodded to him and let them vanish into the armiger's void, dusting off his hands afterwards, even though they weren't dirty.  
  
"Thanks," he said quietly, looking off to the side. "Kind of wish we would've found them alive, though."  
  
"Just how it goes, kid," Dave replied, his gaze settling on the ground near his dog. "There's one that still gets me, happened when I was about as young as you boys. A hunter right around my age, she went missing, left behind a little girl, barely a year old. Her partner, Carmen, begged me to help look for her, but..."  
  
"But what?" Prompto asked, though his tone betrayed him; he knew what was coming, too.  
  
"Carmen found her first, well what was left of her." Dave sighed. "Tore her up to find her like that, and she was never really the same. Still run into her from time to time, though it's been awhile."  
  
"What about the daughter, was she ok?" Noct asked.  
  
"Actually, I don't know." He rubbed his chin, meeting Noct's stare with a shrug. "Last I saw her she couldn't even walk yet. Carmen took her over to Lestallum and that's the last I saw of her, never could get any straight answers."  
  
"I see."  
  
"You could try asking her yourself if you happen to run into her. She's usually working around the area of the Disc."  
  
"Sure, we'll try."  
  
"Also, try to keep your spirits up, and know bringing back these tags means none of them will be forgotten. And means the world to this old hunter."  
  
Noctis nodded, Dave nodded back, and Noct turned and walked toward the street, sliding between Ignis and Prompto. He caught Prompto's eyes on him, just briefly, but tore his own gaze away before anything could register. He looked toward Ignis instead and met his eyes for a moment.  
  
"Could really use a bed," he said, low in his throat, trying to coat his voice in his fatigue.  
  
"We do have some extra funds, I believe," Ignis replied, nodding over toward Gladio. "As well as a discount."  
  
"Guess no harm in taking a break from the outdoors, huh?" Gladio said. "It is getting pretty late."  
  
"It's settled, then."  
  
With a weary sigh, Noctis walked on ahead, straight onward to the motel, as the sky just barely began to darken.

* * *

Huddled under the thin duvet in the motel room, Prompto squinted into the bright light given off by the screen of his camera. A shot of Noctis in battle stared back at him, sword swept outward, the sabertusk he'd struck knocked away from him, reared back in a pose of defeat. The photo didn't show his face, but Prompto could see it anyway: the way his nose scrunched up, the way his eyes gleamed with an internal fire, his jaw set but not clenched as he cleaved through a target.  
  
They'd looked over these photos before settling in for the night, and Noctis had told him to delete this one, but...   
  
He swept his thumb over the image of Noct's back, leaving a small smear across the screen. He couldn't delete it, there was no way; it felt wrong somehow, like before, when he'd take photos of him to practice his skills in high school, with either his phone or that crappy point-and-shoot camera he used to carry everywhere. He couldn't delete those either, not ever.  
  
He had every photo he'd ever taken of Noctis, and deleting this one now... he just couldn't.  
  
Using Noct's magic, he pulled the transfer cable from the void and connected it to his camera, then to his phone. The prompts popped up, and he ok'd them, the brief flash of a transfer bar lighting up his blanket cave like lightning.  
  
_Transfer complete._  
  
He disconnected the cable and tossed it back into the void where he kept his revolver, the blue sparks not quite as bright as the camera screen. He pressed his thumb onto the power button until the screen faded to black and the gentle hum of electricity flowing through the camera died out. He dismissed it into the void, in its own special place, and brought his phone to his face.  
  
His secret Noct folder was open still, the photo from the battle today highlighted from the transfer. He tapped it, pulling it up into his viewing app automatically. The lighting looked just slightly off, as was expected with heightened brightness on his phone, new details standing out, mostly the highlights on Noct's jacket, and the minute droplets of blood flying from the sabertusk.  
  
Movement beside him and he locked his phone, pulling it close to his chest. He froze, his eyes on the supposedly-sleeping form beside him as it rolled away from him. Deep breaths through his nose, and more movement from beside him, then a heavy sigh.  
  
Noct was having one of those nights again.  
  
He waited, listening closely to Noct's breathing as it evened out, back into a more restful rhthym. A whimper, then even-breathing, then another whimper and squirming in the covers, then a broken sigh, almost like a sob.  
  
Prompto turned over then, facing Noctis's back fully, the darkness fuzzy without his contacts, though he could still clearly see the strained rise and fall of an arm on a breathing chest. He reached out and let his knuckles graze Noct's shoulder blade, just barely, not enough for him to feel it through his t-shirt. He did it again, and again, effectively petting him softly across the fabric of his shirt.  
  
Noct winced and pulled away no more than a centimeter, but Prompto stopped nonetheless, frozen again. A mumbling and a shiver, and Noct curled up, away from him, pulling the duvet with him. A chill ran down Prompto's back and he scooted just a bit closer, if only to keep himself under the covers and not actually freeze. His hand bumped into Noct's back completely by accident as he moved, and Noct rolled over, toward him, onto his arm.  
  
"Prom..."   
  
Prompto pulled in a quick, sharp breath through his teeth. A very much asleep and not-his-boyfriend-anymore Noctis Lucis Caelum said his name, much like before, and much like during his nightmares, nightmares he wouldn't talk about.  
  
"Prompto... why..."  
  
He blinked once, then twice, trying to rid himself of the sting, of the moisture and irritation that had rushed to his eyes. With his free hand, the one with the still-bandaged arm, he reached up slowly and swept the hair from Noct's face, finding a slight resistance from sweat, the most obvious sign of a nightmare. Noct let out a sigh as he did so, another broken sigh, and Prompto clenched his jaw down.   
  
This was wrong.  
  
With his trapped arm for leverage, he wrapped his other arm around Noctis's shoulders and back and pulled him close, burying his face in his shoulder, ignoring the sting as he stressed the injured muscle and tissue in his forearm. Noct sighed in his arms and curled into him, his name soft and barely audible on his lips again. He pulled in ever tighter, wetness between his lids now, just barely escaping, as was a strangled breath that erupted from his throat. He buried his face in hair, just by his ear, Noct's face ending up in a similar position near his own ear.  
  
"I'm here," he breathed, the words escaping before he could think about them. "I'm not leaving you."  
  
An echo of his soft whispers the night they had to separate, as well as an echo of the first night he'd noticed these nightmares.  
  
Noct relaxed in his arms, his face sheltered in his neck. Prompto ran his fingers through his hair, still just as soft as he remembered; not that it had been that long since he'd done this, held him close and stroked through his hair. He dared a small kiss to his temple, and Noct sighed again, so he pushed farther, mouthing his way down sweat-stained cheeks toward a troubled mouth.  
  
A deep groan and movement from the other bed, the springs creaking under a great weight. Prompto threw the duvet up toward their necks, pulling his lips away. He tried to pull his arm from under Noct, but, in his deep sleep, Noctis pulled him forward by his back, and he was pinned against him, with no escape. Prompto looked over to the other bed as Gladio continued tossing around, the large shadow stilling after a few moments.  
  
He settled back into Noct's hair, one more soft kiss to his crown, and resigned himself to holding him, just as Noct held him. Just as it was back then, when Noct would fall asleep in his arms on the couch, and he could do nothing but admire him from this distance.  
  
It was okay this way, really, it was. He could do this. Even if Noct was being grumpy about the whole thing, he could be strong and supportive, and no one would have to know.  
  
He buried the sadness that crept its way up regardless, and managed to drift off to sleep.

* * *

The Crow's Nest had that otherworldly blue tinge that was characteristic of dim light in the early morning. Noct stared blearily into his plate of fries, Ignis scribbling in one of his notebooks next to him; not exactly the breakfast of kings or even champions, but at least he was eating, right?  
  
Or about to eat. He'd get the energy eventually.  
  
He blinked slow, then dared a glance down the counter past Ignis, a glance that turned more into a stare at Prompto talking animatedly with Gladio and the tipster, motioning around with one of his fries. A brief glance down revealed he'd barely eaten any of his fries either.  
  
Ignis cleared his throat next to him and Noct went right back to staring at his plate, forcing a hand to move and grab at a fry, his fingers sliding on grease as it slipped out of his grip once, then twice, his hand shaking. He finally grabbed it and popped it in his mouth, far too embarrassed to even glance back at Ignis to see if he actually wanted his attention or not; he'd speak up if he did.  
  
The fries from his plate disappeared in a manner of what seemed like seconds, his hand moving without his knowledge for a time until all that remained was the over-crisp butt of a fry, one of those that had been cut far too small and was much too crunchy to be enjoyable. He could still hear Prompto's excited voice from down the counter and his heart twinged, and then that familiar annoying itch came back; he sounded far too happy, again.  
  
Noct stood from the stool and made a beeline for the door.  
  
"Noct?" Ignis called out to him, and he stopped just as he reached the threshold.  
  
"Just wanted some air," he lied, pushing through the door before he heard any reply.  
  
He ventured out, across the street, waving off a car that honked at him as he crossed without looking. Before he realized what he was doing, he hopped over the door of the Regalia into his seat in the back, settling into the familiar plush interior, and in an instant he felt calmer. He leaned his head back, staring up into the early morning sky, wispy clouds passing overhead. His eyes stung again, and he blinked, trying to stave it off, but only made it worse. He leaned forward instead, pressing the swell of his palms against his closed eyes, taking in deep breaths as his emotions pulled him in two very different directions.  
  
He'd had the nightmare again, with the not-quite-right Prompto, the one that hated him and seemed to take pleasure in outright torturing him, but that Prompto had also said something that didn't fit with anything else.   
  
_"I'm not leaving you."_  
  
It was just a nightmare, his mind playing tricks on him, so of course things would seem weird after the fact, that maybe he'd subconsciously gotten his hopes up that things would work out and be okay, the wedding be damned.  
  
Then, it ended the same way they all did, with him alone and confused and so very cold. And he knew when he awoke, he'd be just as alone, again.  
  
But he wasn't.  
  
He'd woken up in a warm embrace, mere centimeters from Prompto's sleeping face, his own hands twisted into the silky fabric of his undershirt, like so many mornings they'd woken up before the wedding forced them apart. Prompto had even rested his hand in his hair like he used to, the same one bandaged from the run-in with the sabertusks. It was warm, safe, and even when the alarms went off for them to get going again and they pulled apart, that warm tingle of soothing his aching skin remained, at least for awhile.  
  
But then Prompto acted like it never happened. And Ignis very obviously _knew_  it had happened, and wouldn't stop giving him that pitying look through his glasses. And Gladio...  
  
Gladio had been encouraging Prompto in putting the wedge between them, even though the wedge was mostly of his own doing, because of how he was born, and how his head wouldn't stop messing with him in the middle of the night. But it's not like he could control how Prompto felt or anything.  
  
And it was getting harder and harder to tell the reality from the nightmares, like Prompto was just being cheery to pretend he was happy to tag along, but that he was only along because he felt obligated.  
  
And yet when he first joined the Crownsguard, he'd told him he didn't feel obligated at all, that it was something he _wanted_  to do.  
  
But it didn't seem like it.  
  
Noct sat back up, blinking into the morning light, the sun a bit higher than it had been when he'd first sat down. A small commotion from his left, and the others came across the street from the Crow's Nest and soon settled into their respective seats in the Regalia.  
  
And then they moved onward, toward Galdin Quay, where they'd depart for Altissia.  


* * *

The ride to Galdin had been uneventful, no one really chatting except to comment on the short statement given by Luna on the radio, and then immediately conversation shifted to Galdin Quay as it came into view around a bend in the road.  
  
As the car came to a stop under the covered parking area, Noct pulled himself up over the back of the car, eyes catching view of a dock with small shack next to it.  
  
"Fishing..." he said without thinking, Gladio chuckling beside him.  
  
"Now you've done it," Gladio said, his hand thumping against the driver's seat.  
  
"We've no time for such amusements," Ignis scolded gently, his seat creaking as he stood from the car. "We're getting a late start as it is."  
  
"Fine," Noctis groaned in reply, reluctantly pulling himself out of the car.  
  
"Don't worry, buddy," Prompto spoke up too cheerfully. "I'm sure there'll be fishing in Altissia."  
  
"It _is_  the city with the 'walls of water,'" Gladio added.  
  
"Whatever," Noct muttered, waving them off. "Let's just get this over with."  
  
The journey across the pedestrian bridge to the over-water resort was shorter than he expected, likely because he really didn't want to go across; that fishing dock was far too tempting and he'd definitely brought his best fishing equipment with him, and there were definitely fish waiting for the catching.   
  
He'd made it up the first set of stairs before he paused and looked over his shoulder, the dock still clearly within view, a few large fish darting about in the water in front of it.  
  
"I'm afraid you're out of luck."  
  
Noctis whipped his head around, just in time to see Ignis slide in front of him, his arm back as if shielding him. That was definitely Gladio's job, but Gladio had barely moved except to look up at whoever had addressed them, which Noctis did after only a few moments. Honest.  
  
"Are we?" Noctis asked, raising an eyebrow at the stranger's attire. Wasn't he burning up in all those layers?  
  
"The boats bring you here," the stranger said kind of aimlessly, pointing over his shoulder.  
  
"What about them?" Prompto asked, sounding a bit panicked.  
  
"Well, they'll not take you forth." He stepped down onto the landing, turning around slightly to rub the back of his head.  
  
"And what's your story?" Gladio asked, gaining a brief head turn in his direction from Ignis, and Noct could see his face now.  
  
There was a fury in Ignis's eyes.  
  
"I'm an impatient traveler, ready to turn ship," the stranger replied as he strode forward.  
  
He met resistance when Ignis didn't move out of his way.  
  
"I would expect that you'd have your own transporation across the seas," Ignis said, his tone almost dangerous.  
  
Noctis took one step back, just in case. He had been a little too close to Ignis's hand, and he really didn't want to get stabbed by accident. Not like Ignis would let that happen, but the threat was still there, and the small twitching movements in his hand were definitely a tell that he was ready to summon his daggers.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" the stranger replied with a wide wave of his hand, somehow undaunted by what had to be Ignis's most deadly glare. "I've not the resources."  
  
"I beg to differ, _Chancellor_."  
  
The stranger froze, and in the corner of his eye, Noctis sensed Gladio whip his head around.  
  
"What did you say?" Gladio asked, his tone gruff, resonating with his rising anger.  
  
"You must be mistaken," the supposed "chancellor" replied after regaining movement, his relaxed demeanor returning. "I'm of no such consequence."  
  
"Why will the boats not take us?" Ignis asked, almost demanded, still not yielding.  
  
"And why would I know that?" He sidestepped Ignis and brushed past, the movement disturbing that scarf-like thing on his shoulders where it fluttered against Noct's face for a moment.  
  
The Prompto from his nightmares flashed across his vision and he brought in a sharp breath, stepping back and away from whoever this guy was. He let out a small huff, staring at the guy's back as he slowed to a stop not too far away.  
  
"The Royal Chamberlain, is it?" he spoke up with a shifted tone, turning his head without looking over his shoulder. "You assume I'm the Imperial Chancellor? Why is that?"  
  
Ignis stepped around Noct again, seemingly determined to keep himself between the two of them.  
  
"That's none of your concern," Ignis growled back, sparks of magic crackling near his hand.  
  
Noctis looked down to see that hand shaking, ever so slightly, but more than before.  
  
"Then my identity is none of yours," the man replied, his voice lower and smoother. He turned, slowly, his face lowered slightly, his gaze on a clenched fist he held a bit below chin level. "However, since we're on the subject of assumptions, allow me to make one of my own."  
  
He tossed something in the air from his clenched fist and it chimed metallic, like a coin, before he caught it out of the air in that same fist, just as he shifted his gaze away from Ignis. Noctis pulled in a silent gasp and took a step back as he met the man's eyes; he'd seen him before, no idea where or when, but he remembered those eyes, and he remembered that look he gave him before he put his attention on Ignis again.  
  
"The king would not have told you, no," he mused, holding the coin up to the light and looking into it, as if it were a lens. "That only leaves the other..." He looked toward Ignis again and his expression completely shifted, one that exuded an almost-dangerous curiosity. "Oh, you don't even know, do you?"  
  
Ignis didn't move, and Noctis could almost sense the slight twitch of the corner of his mouth as he forced down a reply.  
  
"Alright, what's the big idea?" Gladio growled, stepping forward, much farther up than Ignis, his chin raised as he sized up the maybe-chancellor. "We've got places to be, so are you the Chancellor or aren't you?"  
  
"Who's to say?" the man shrugged, holding his arms out to his sides, as if in surrender. "Suppose I was? What is it you would do?"  
  
No one responded, and no one moved, save for the man in front of them as he brought his arms inward, fussing with the frills sticking out of one sleeve of his over-elaborate outfit. Noct felt himself breathe, in and out, frozen by the familiarity he knew he shouldn't have with this man.  
  
_"You're to remember this moment."_  
  
Noct shook his head, pressing his hand against the side of his head. Where had he heard that voice before?  
  
"If there was nothing else, I really must be going," the man said, breaking the silence. "As I said before, I'm an impatient traveler, and now you've delayed me further."  
  
With a short wave, and a lingering stare, he turned and walked away, heading the way they had arrived; Noctis could've sworn he heard him laugh at them as he turned.   
  
Once he was a sufficient distance away, Gladio turned on his heel, marching up to Ignis. He didn't look happy.  
  
"Alright, Iggy," he growled, his voice hushed. "Just what was that about?"  
  
"Let's find a seat inside, and I'll show you," Ignis replied, shaking his head.  
  
"Show me?"  
  
But Ignis had already turned away, and his hand landed on Noct's upper back and urged him forward, toward the steps and onto the main level of the resort.  


* * *

"A Glaive?!" Gladio asked with a huff, leaning back in his seat.  
  
"Volume, Gladio," Ignis scolded, his hand laying over his smartphone on the table.  
  
"Sorry, but you said you met with a Glaive?"  
  
"Yes. In the lower district, no less." Ignis shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as if he was embarrassed.  
  
"And they didn't identify themselves?"  
  
"They didn't." He sighed. "They even went out of their way to conceal themselves. I never got a proper look at their face, and they disguised their voice from me."  
  
"Sounds sketchy," Noctis spoke up, glancing toward Ignis as he visibly deflated.  
  
"Yes, well, I admit it wasn't exactly my best judgment."  
  
"I'll say," Gladio muttered.  
  
"What'd he say, though?" Prompto asked, not even trying to disguise his worry this time. "Or... she, I guess?"  
  
"They only gave me this."   
  
Ignis unlocked his phone with a sweeping motion and the screen lit up with a photo. He slid it to the center of the table, and Noctis leaned over to get a better look. It was the man they had just run into, wearing the exact same clothing, with the addition of a hat.  
  
And he was standing at the bottom of the staircase in the throne room of the Citadel.  
  
"What the hell?" Noctis hissed, picking up the phone and holding it to his face for a better look.   
  
"I can only assume that photo was taken the day the treaty was offered, based on what that Glaive told me," Ignis said quietly, and Noctis looked up to meet his gaze.  
  
"So he's the one behind the treaty...?" Prompto asked, his voice weak.  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Why does it matter?" Noctis asked, handing Ignis back his phone. "It's still happening, no matter who made it up."  
  
"Then what was he doing out here?" Gladio spoke up, crossing his arms. "What was he trying to do, give us some kind of official send-off?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Ignis replied, his phone disappearing into the armiger. "In any case, we must be cautious. The Glaive thought it strange that he arrived without a guard, so it's entirely possible that he's traveling with one now."  
  
"Then we should probably get going," Prompto suggested, jumping up out of his seat.  
  
"Yeah, I'm with Prompto on this one," Gladio agreed, standing up as well.  
  
Noctis looked over at Ignis, and by the pitied expression in Ignis's eyes, he knew he had that puppy-look on his own face; he was just trying not to panic, not to give away that he _recognized_  the Chancellor of Niflheim.  
  
And, what was worse, he couldn't remember why.  
  
"Let's not waste more time," Ignis said, patting him on the shoulder as he stood.  
  
Noctis nodded without a reply and followed, heading toward the ferry dock, not realizing he was hanging closer to Prompto than the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the trash man to ruin everything, not like things weren't getting worse already :3


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is fine until it isn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright this chapter is a long one, and I couldn't figure out a good way to split it up without ruining the flow of events, so here's the (hopefully) one-off 13k chapter!

"Man, not a ship in sight."  
  
Noctis caught up to Prompto just as he lamented out at the empty sea beyond the dock. No ferry, no ship, not even a fishing boat; just calm, empty water that reached out to and beyond the landmasses.  
  
"Weird-looking island over there, though," Noctis commented, pointing his head out in the direction of the island that had the strange mountains curving outward.  
  
Almost like wings.  
  
"That's Angelgard," Ignis spoke up from behind him. "I suppose it got its name from those mountains. See how they look like angel wings?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, I kinda see it," Gladio replied, standing at the edge of the pier with his arms crossed. "So we just gonna wait for the port to open?"  
  
"Who knows when that will be," Ignis sighed as he turned toward the small gatherings of people on the pier. "In any case, the Chancellor definitely wasn't lying."  
  
"Speaking of him, do you think it's safe for us to be here?" Prompto asked, his steps bringing him up to just behind Noctis; he could almost feel him picking at the bandage on his arm against his back.  
  
"Hard to say."   
  
"Don't have much choice, do we?" Noctis spoke up, taking a few steps back and to the side, so he stood adjacent to Prompto instead of in front of him. "Unless there's some other way to Altissia?"  
  
Ignis opened his mouth to reply, but a man sitting on a bench behind him interrupted instead.  
  
"Not unless you got your own boat," said the man, who seemed a bit overdressed for a resort vacation.  
  
"What does that mean?" Noctis asked in reply, approaching him in tandem with Ignis.  
  
"According to my source, _the Empire_ , there's been strict orders not to let any vessels leave the docks of Altissia."  
  
The guy's eyes gleamed mischievously, and Noctis's stomach turned sour. If this was another Imperial officer in Galdin...  
  
He turned toward Prompto briefly, who was still messing with his bandages; they probably needed to be changed soon. Prompto looked up at him and smiled for a moment, just long enough that his anxieties over this stanger eased.  
  
"Real shame if you were late to your own wedding," the man continued, a wry smile pulling at his mouth. "Right, Prince Noctis?"  
  
Well, there went that.  
  
Noct gasped and took a few steps back, but bumped into something and whipped his head around to the side. Gladio stared down at him, with arm against his back, keeping him from tripping backwards into the water. He gulped in some deep breaths, feeling more than a little bit shaken, and allowed Gladio to gently urge him away from the barrier.  
  
"Name's Dino, by the way. Pleasure."  
  
This guy didn't even notice he'd almost jumped out of his skin and into the ocean.  
  
"Y-Yeah, the pleasure is mine," he replied, goosebumps spreading across the back of his neck.  
  
He glanced to his other side, at Prompto again, who stared at him with helpless eyes, his hand wrapped around his injured arm now.  
  
"The crown prince of Lucis, bounty-hunting in his fancy car," Dino continued, bouncing in his seat a little bit, as if he'd just stumbled onto a fortune. "Surely you didn't think it'd go unnoticed-- at least not by this reporter?"  
  
"Dino Ghiranze," Ignis spoke up, adjusting his glasses on his face.   
  
"Ah, so you've heard of me."  
  
"You've written a few magazine articles I've come across, yes."  
  
"Eh, stuff like that just pays the bills. I'm more into bigger scoops, for the national and international papers, you get me?"  
  
"And I would assume our presence here is one of your big scoops?"  
  
"Nah, this reporter right here has integrity." He thumped his own chest with his fist and grinned. "Though, if you wanna remain incognito, I'll respect your wish... in exchange for a favor."  
  
"What do you want?" Noctis asked, stepping up and around Ignis.  
  
"Hey, I knew you'd come around. You got a map?"  
  
"Yeah, right here."   
  
He handed Dino the map that Cindy had given them, and Dino took it in his hands and searched over it, as if deliberating. He then took a pen out of his jacket and scribbled something in a circular pattern, then handed it back.  
  
"Marked where you need to go on your map," he said, placing the pen back in his jacket. "All you gotta do is find me some rough gemstones, like this one. Although, the one I'm after is red."   
  
He pulled his hand back out of his jacket to reveal a dull green stone, with a few shiny spots here and there, as if it just needed to be cut and polished.   
  
"Do this, and your ship'll come in. Don't, and the papers'll run you outta town. Capisce?"  
  
"Yeah, we, uh, 'capisce,'" Noct replied clumsily.  
  
"Great! I'll right here most of the day and tomorrow, or over by the Mother of Pearl. Either way, I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"Alright, thanks."  
  
With that, Noct made a beeline for the stairs leading back up to the main area of the resort and walked ahead, the footsteps of his friends following behind him. Prompto reached him first, which he announced by clapping one hand on his back.  
  
"Wooo, he's really got your number, Noct," Prompto laughed, his entire face lighting up as he did so.   
  
Even in the shade, it was mesmerizing, and Noct didn't even try to stop himself from staring.  
  
"It's not like we made much effort to keep it secret," Gladio responded. "Driving in a city car with our Crownsguard uniforms kinda makes us stick out."  
  
"Even if we had, the press always finds a way," Ignis added, stepping around Noct and blocking his advance just before they reached the front entrance to the resort. "I suspect that if that reporter noticed who we are, then the Chancellor did as well."  
  
"Figured as much," Gladio chimed in.  
  
"In any case, we needn't befriend Dino, but we'd best not make him our enemy."  
  
"Can't argue with that."  
  
"So, where'd he want us to go?" Prompto asked, leaning over onto Noctis's shoulder on his good arm; it was warm.  
  
"Uh..." Noctis hummed as he pulled the map back out and located the fresh mark in the paper. "Here, looks like it's just north of here."  
  
"Ah, we passed that area on the way in," Ignis said, taking the map out of his hands. "Should take no less than an hour to reach."  
  
"So, about the port," Prompto spoke up, "did that chancellor guy have something to do with it, do you think?"  
  
"I wouldn't doubt it," Gladio replied, crossing his arms again.  
  
"You think it had something to do with the wedding, with Noct going there?"  
  
Gladio opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it immediately, his face twisting into an unreadable expression.  
  
"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Ignis replied, lowering the map. "That's the best we can hope for, anyway."  
  
"I'm with Prompto on this," Noctis said, gesturing toward him. "If the ferry isn't running, and only from Altissia, then it sounds like they're trying to keep us here. Like Gladio said, we weren't trying to hide who we are."  
  
"You make a good point."  
  
They stood in silence for a time, and Noctis took that time to lean into Prompto hanging onto his shoulder, letting the simple touch and weight ease the uncomfortable feeling bubbling in his chest. Trusting reporters, running into enemy chancellors, forced into an arranged marriage, Glaives sneaking around; this week had been too much.  
  
"We'll just have to hope for the best," Gladio said finally, rolling his neck. "Even if this is all some big trap, including the reporter, we can take it. Right, Iggy?"  
  
Ignis looked at him and didn't respond, only gave him a slow nod.  
  
"Well enough about that," Prompto said with music in his voice. "I'm starving, what about you guys?"  
  
"I could go for a bite," Gladio replied.  
  
"Sweet! Noct, Iggy, you in?"  
  
"I could peruse the menu, I suppose," Ignis replied, rubbing his chin.  
  
"Not me," Noct said, gaining a very adorable and heartbreaking pout from Prompto.  
  
"Noct~, come on," he whined, nuzzling down into his shoulder. "I hunger!"  
  
"You guys go eat," he said as gently as possible. "I'm gonna go check out that pier over there."  
  
"The one for fishing, I presume?" Ignis asked with a small smirk.  
  
"Ah, I get it," Gladio laughed. "Go unwind."  
  
"Thanks," Noct nodded.  
  
"Just don't wander off."  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
He waved behind him at Gladio as he walked onto the walkway bridge leading back to the beach, not paying any attention to whatever Ignis said afterwards. Hopefully it wasn't important.

* * *

The water splashed softly, as Noct pulled his latest catch from the water. Its tail flopped around uselessly, sending droplets flying in all directions, most of it splashing onto the pier at his feet in a shallow puddle. He looked it over, checking the color, the length, and whether it might make good filets or not.  
  
Since it was a Galdin Trevally, and a robust one at that, it was a keeper.   
  
He toed open the cooler next to him with his boot and sat the fish inside, where it lay flat atop the other two fish he caught earlier, also trevally, though one might not have been edible. It was pretty, though, and that was enough.  
  
After letting the lid fall back into place, he dimissed his fishing rod back into the armiger, motions feeling sluggish. He lowered himself slowly to sit on the edge of the pier, gentle waves just barely licking at the soles of his boots. He stared out over the water, out toward where they were supposed to have left by now, the sea just as barren of ships as it was earlier in the day. He caught sight of Angelgard in the distance, the aerial perspective giving the island a slightly purple hue, dusted with orange.  
  
He shivered, his hand moving up to his shoulder, the shoulder where Prompto had been hanging onto him several hours prior. The lingering warmth was still there, just barely, though it felt more like a void than a comfort. He let his eyes slide closed, just as a cool breeze passed over him, ruffling his hair.  
  
Of course, with his eyes closed, he saw only Prompto.  
  
And Prompto was smiling at him, that genuine smile before they'd share soft kisses on his balcony back in Insomnia. It wasn't whatever had taken over his smile now, where it seemed so forced and so _fake_  somehow, where it didn't reach his eyes just right, and his freckles didn't join together in the right places anymore.  
  
Almost like he had been replaced.  
  
But that was crazy. Just as crazy as thinking his nightmares reflected reality, no matter how much they rattled him.  
  
He was just tired. That had to be it.  
  
And, as soon as that resolution hit him, the Prompto in his mind's eye frowned, eyebrows furrowing, those helpless eyes from the ferry platform staring back at him. Then, in a flash, his face twisted, hair going limp and that sinister grin from his nightmares distorting his features.  
  
This Prompto blinked. His eyes glowed red.  
  
Noctis jumped to his feet, gasping, hand now clawing into his shoulder. His eyes open, he saw the water, he saw the fish, but he also saw the after-image of whatever that _thing_  was. He panted, gasping for air, eyes darting from fish to fish in the water, trying to rid himself of that goddamn face.  
  
It didn't go away.  
  
He brought his free hand up to his hair, raking his fingers down through his bangs. He didn't find any traction, so he pulled his hand down to eye-level, where he found it trembling, along with his entire arm up to his shoulder, and the arm and hand that still tore almost desperately at his shirt near that shoulder.  
  
His entire body was shaking.  
  
He brought his trembling hand to his forehead, cold and damp from sweat, pulling in deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth. It worked for a few moments, the rushing terror through his chest stymied just enough that he had a small moment of clarity.  
  
And, in that moment, horrid laughter echoed behind him.  
  
He whirled around, eyes wild, ready to summon a weapon on whomever had sneaked up on him. But he moved too fast, and was too unsteady, and he slammed all of his weight down on his left leg, his bad leg, and it gave out. His heel slipped off the slick-wet pier, and his balance failed as he fell back, toward the water.  
  
"NOCT!"  
  
A hand grabbed onto his arm and halted his tumble, leaving him hanging in the air from tension for a brief moment, before it hauled him back onto the pier and onto his feet.  
  
He gulped in air, blurriness slowly clearing from his vision. He shook his head, managing to rid himself of the rest of it, and then looked up to see Ignis looking down at him, green eyes wide and jaw taut.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ignis asked, his voice straining in that specific way that betrayed he was just barely holding onto his composure.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Noct replied, his voice sounding hoarse. "Sorry, you just... startled me." He still couldn't get enough air.  
  
"Apologies." Ignis looked down to the cooler. "I came out here to inform you that we're losing daylight, and to be certain you didn't fall asleep with the rod in your hands."  
  
"Is it really that late?" Noct asked uselessly; the long shadows and orange tint to everything had answered his question before he asked it.  
  
"Indeed. The owner of the restaurant told us that there's a haven near our search area." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "I thought we would spend the night there."  
  
"Ugh, camping?" he groaned, suddenly wanting to sit down on the pier again.   
  
"Unless you would rather we stay here and rise early in the morning for us to avoid the heat of the day?"  
  
Noctis sighed, letting his shoulders fall in defeat.  
  
"Alright, camping it is."

* * *

Noctis sat down on the edge of the haven, staring out over the landscape. The fire deposit down below glowed bright in the low light, twilight turning everything else a low-contrast haze of shadows and muted colors. He sighed, his shoulders slumping down as a light breeze passed over the haven from the sea.  
  
A hand patted his shoulder and he looked up with a start, Ignis staring down at him.   
  
"Ignis?"  
  
"Just wanted to check in," Ignis said, taking a sip from the mug he held; he didn't remove his hand from Noctis's shoulder. "I may whip up that recipe from the trevally you caught earlier, if it's alright."  
  
"Uh, yeah," he replied, looking out at the landscape again. "That'd be great, go for it."  
  
"Good."  
  
Silence grew between them, but Ignis didn't walk away. He merely took another sip out of his cup, his hand warm and heavy on Noct's shoulder. It hadn't startled him like it had done so many times recently, when he was no longer allowed Prompto's comfort. It was just nice, almost soothing, and he let his eyes slide closed.   
  
It was like he was home again.  
  
"So, Noct," Ignis said, his hand moving away, clothes shuffling as he sat down beside him.  
  
"Yeah?" Noct replied, opening his eyes just enough to at least sort of look at Ignis.  
  
"You seem on edge, is something the matter?"  
  
"Not more than usual." A lie.  
  
"Noct."  
  
Noctis turned his head, meeting Ignis's gaze fully, which looked upon him with focus and worry. Much like he had at the pier not more than an hour ago. It wasn't about his near-fall at all, then.  
  
He let out a small breath and pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on them as he gazed out across the darkening landscape.  
  
"You've been out of sorts since just after we arrived," Ignis continued, and Noctis flinched when his hand found his shoulder again. "Moreso than you've been."  
  
"It's nothing, Ignis," he replied softly, blowing the bangs out of his eyes; they fell right back down. "Just tired."  
  
"If you're sure."   
  
A hand found his neck and he sighed, his head rolling to the side as deft fingers worked out the knots in his shoulders.   
  
"As much as I don't want to pry," Ignis continued, "I also don't want you to suffer alone."  
  
Noctis bit his lip, holding back the truth. His shoulders tensed as he did so, and Ignis sighed quietly beside him.  
  
"It's the nightmares again?" Ignis asked, and Noct flinched again.  
  
"Yeah," he admitted, hugging his legs tighter.   
  
"Did last night help at all?"  
  
"So you did know."  
  
A small pause, a light squeeze against his muscles.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It didn't. Not like it used to." He could admit that much.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Noctis pulled in a breath, closing his eyes. Of course Ignis would apologize for something that wasn't his fault. He loosened the grip on his legs just enough so his face could slide down behind his knees. The landscape was much too dark now, and staring into the enclosed space behind his eyelids was far safer than staring out into the unknowns of Leide.  
  
But the suffocating silence continued, biting into him with the cold realization that Ignis felt this was somehow _his_  fault, which was crazy.  
  
Just as crazy as believing the phantom in his nightmares.   
  
He lifted his head and looked to Ignis again. The shadows cast on their backs from the fire created shadows across Ignis's face, to where he couldn't discern his expression. But the way he sat, stiff and unmoving, with his hand tense against his neck still, told him all he needed.  
  
He opened his mouth to break the silence, to say anything to reassure his friend, but the melodic ringing of his phone cut him off before he could begin, startling them both. He pulled his phone out of his pocket where he'd left it, the screen bright in the dim light. It was the default call screen, with the word 'BLOCKED' in large letters across the top.  
  
"A blocked number...?" he breathed, glancing up at Ignis.  
  
Ignis didn't respond, but simply stared at the screen, unmoving. His ringtone repeated once, then twice, nearing when his answering machine would take over.  
  
"Ignis--?"  
  
"Answer it," Ignis said abruptly.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
With a short nod, he swiped his thumb up on the green icon and brought his phone to his ear, immediately met with faraway chatter.  
  
"He... Hello?" he said tentatively, his eyes on Ignis.  
  
_"Noctis?"_  a lilted woman's voice asked over the noise, one he swore he heard earlier in the day. _"Is it really you?"_  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
_"It's me, Lady Lunafreya."_  
  
"Luna?!" He felt his eyes go wide, so wide his face hurt. "How... I mean... I never gave you my number--"  
  
A shuffling of feet approached him from behind, and he turned slightly to see Gladio and Prompto gathered around behind him, both of them wearing matching wide eyes of disbelief.   
  
Ignis, on the other hand, appeared confused, his mouth hanging open and brow furrowed.  
  
_"Hold on, Noctis,"_  Luna said, sounds of movement on the phone as she seemingly shifted around.   
  
_"What's up,"_ a new voice chimed in, a little farther away.   
  
It sounded almost like Nyx, but that couldn't be. Luna was in Altissia, or on her way to Altissia, but definitely in a place the Kingsglaive wouldn't be.  
  
Right?  
  
_"How do I turn on the camera, so we can see each other?"_  Luna asked, just as far away.  
  
_"Not my phone,"_  the maybe-Nyx replied, and then he yelled away from the phone; Noctis didn't catch any words.  
  
"It's okay," Noct said, pulling the phone away from his ear. "I'll just video call you, and you can answer it."  
  
He pressed the video icon and the ringing tone began on speakerphone, a circular loading animation cycling with each ring. It spun a few cycles, Noct's heart dropping each time it looped. He raised his thumb to cancel the video call, but a small _bloop_  stopped him.  
  
It connected, and Luna stared down at him, her hair down and wavy; it was almost like she was sitting at a counter or table of some kind, with the phone low. The background was well-lit and quite obviously someone's house, someone who wasn't part of the ruling house of Tenebrae, and someone who wasn't in Altissia. And she looked so, so different, not the young girl he knew twelve years ago, and not the heavily-photoshopped woman he'd seen in the gossip magazines or on TV.  
  
She looked so normal.  
  
"Luna...?" he breathed, letting a small smile touch his lips.  
  
_"Noctis?"_  she said back, her eyes squinting in the frame, head tilting just slightly. _"Where are you?"_  
  
"Near Galdin Quay, at a campsite."  
  
_"No, I mean, I can't see you."_  
  
_"Did he have the wrong camera on?!"_ a new voice from far away called out, one that made him flinch slightly.  
  
_"No, it's just quite dark,"_  Luna replied, though it seemed more directed at Noctis than whoever yelled across the room.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Noct mumbled, standing up and nearly running smack into Gladio as he whipped around. "I'll go sit by the fire."  
  
And he did just that, with Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis crowding behind him, all trying to fit into the frame somehow.  
  
"Is that better?" he asked, holding his phone up and away so she could see more than just his face.   
  
She was looking away from the screen, however, and the background was moving, as if she was walking.  
  
_"Yes,"_  she replied after glancing down at the phone and letting out a small giggle. _"Everyone seems well, I see."_  
  
"Hi, Lady Lunafreya!" Prompto almost yelled into Noct's ear and he hissed, staring back at him with barely contained amusement.  
  
_"Who was... oh, is that Prompto?"_  
  
"Yeah," Noctis replied, lightly bumping Prompto's chin with his knuckles.   
  
_"I'm looking forward to meeting you,"_  she said with practiced grace, and Prompto snuggled down onto Noct's shoulder, supposedly to get a better view. _"Noctis has sent so very many pictures of the two of you~."_  
  
"Oh, really~, Noct?" Prompto asked, his grin so clear in his voice that Noctis didn't even have to look at him to know it was there.  
  
He didn't reply, but the heat radiating off his cheeks probably gave him away.  
  
On the screen, Luna stopped walking and moved her arm upwards and out of frame, followed by a rustling of a thick fabric. She then spun around, revealing a large window with lights beyond it behind her, but the reflections of people and furniture on the glass obscured most of it.  
  
_"Can you see it?"_  she asked, looking at the window and back at the phone, her blue eyes bright and shining.  
  
"See... what?" he asked in reply, squinting into the screen.   
  
_"Are you trying to show him the city?"_  another new voice called out, along with movement in the reflection of the window.  
  
_"Might be easier if the lights were off,"_  the Nyx voice replied; the voices were so much clearer on speakerphone, and he swore that voice had to be him.  
  
_"Then you turn them off,"_ came the reply.  
  
_"YEAH Nyx,"_  said the voice that made him flinch before, and a large movement happened in the reflection, as if someone were waving their arms around. " _Can't you see Libby's INJURED?!"_  
  
Nyx confirmed.  
  
Laughter from another new person echoed into the phone, and Luna laughed, too, covering her mouth as she did so.   
  
She looked so happy.   
  
The lights went out and the camera adjusted for a moment, Luna's face now in shadows, but the lights out of the window were much clearer.  
  
_"Can you see it, now?"_  she asked, the camera moving closer and revealing a very familiar outline of lights.  
  
"Is that..." he began, his voice catching in his throat.  
  
"The Citadel," Gladio finished his thought. "But... how in the hell--"  
  
"Luna," Noctis interrupted, leaning more into the phone. "Are you in Insomnia?"  
  
_"Yes,"_  came the simple reply. _"This flat has the most spectacular view of the city."_  
  
"It does, but... Luna--!"  
  
_"You can turn the lights back on now, Nyx."_  
  
The lights came on a few seconds later, and the camera adjusted its view back onto Luna's face, which was bright with a smile.  
  
"Why are you in the Crown City?!"  
  
_"BECAUSE THE EMPIRE IS A FLAMING DOUCHE!"_  came the reply from the voice that had yelled at Nyx before; it was definitely a woman's voice, but one he couldn't quite place.   
  
"...who is that?" he asked tentatively, unnerved by yet another familiarity he wasn't certain about.  
  
_"My apologies, one of my esteemed bodyguards is quite inebriated."_ She had moved back to the counter or table or wherever she had been sitting before, though the angle was a bit different, and he could see someone's shoulder in the side of the frame.  
  
_"You're DAMN RIGHT."_ A loud scraping, like chair legs on linoleum, and Luna looked up and past the camera, a small smirk on her face. _"I deserve it after whatever the fuck that 'party' was."_  
  
_"You were drinking at the party, too,"_  came Nyx's voice from somewhere off to the right. _"And before it."_  
  
_"Didn't ask for your input."_  
  
A sigh followed, and Luna laughed again.  
  
"Luna," Noctis said, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. "Where are you right now?"  
  
_"Don't worry, Your Highness, she's at our apartment,"_  came an entirely new (female) voice still, and the owner of the shoulder leaned into frame, a long-haired woman he vaguely recognized as someone from the Kingsglaive.  
  
"So you've got Glaives watching over you?" Gladio asked from above Noct's head, echoing Noct's own thoughts.  
  
Luna nodded in reply, and the woman next to her leaned in more, and he got a much better look at her face. Still didn't quite recognize her.  
  
_"Hey, check it out,"_  she said to someone off camera, pointing at the phone. _"It's the Prince's Shield."_  
  
There was no immediate verbal reply, just laughter from at least three distinct voices, two of which were Luna and this Glaive.  
  
"So you're safe?" Noctis asked as the laughter died down.  
  
_"Yes,"_  she replied.  
  
_"No thanks to your moron of a brother,"_  the drunk woman said with almost scorn in the background. " _I thought he was taking you out to Altissia?"_  
  
_"That's what I thought as well, but he told me there had been a change in plans."_  
  
_"For what? The wedding?"_  
  
_"He didn't elaborate."_  
  
_"Oh that's just GREAT."_  
  
The Glaive next to Luna tensed up slightly, both of them staring up over the phone.   
  
_"And another thing, Luna,"_  the drunk woman continued, the clinking of a glass very loud near the phone's mic. _"What was Glauca even doing when we ran into you?"_  
  
"Glauca?!" Noctis's heart raced, and flash of the manor in Tenebrae in flames passed through his mind.  
  
_"He was just talking to me, I suppose,"_  Luna replied, and the woman sitting next to her looked up over the camera.  
  
_"Yeah, sure, 'talking.'"_  A creak and scraping again, then a rattle as something hit the table under the phone. 

_"I suppose he did threaten to kidnap me,"_  Luna replied a little too cheerily, and the Glaive sitting next to her laughed.  
  
_"Why is he even here, though?"_  the drunk woman continued. _"If he's here, you'd think whats-his-face with the army would be here, and he wasn't even on the check-in list. And you'd also think they'd leave Ravus back in Niflheim while the High Commander was here, and yet there he is, strutting around in that stupid coat with his stupid sword. It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense and I hate it."_  
  
_"I think you need another drink,"_  the man who wasn't Nyx-- probably Libertus-- said from beyond the camera.  
  
_"I think I need about twenty."_  
  
_"Be nicer to your liver,"_  yet another new female voice said from off to the left somewhere, her voice much calmer than any of the others.  
  
_"Okay then just like... three."_  
  
_"One."_  
  
_"FINE..."_  
  
The woman sitting by Luna stood and walked around behind her, the clinking of glass and wooden thumps of cabinets opening echoing in the background.  
  
_"Tequila?"_  the woman said from far away.  
  
_"TEQUILA!"_  the drunk woman cheered, the table rattling as she did. _"Luna, you, too!"_  
  
_"I'm quite alright, thank you,"_  Luna replied.  
  
_"Luna, Lunaaa, babe, drop the prissy princess act and let loose."_  A tattooed arm came into frame for a moment, hand pawing in the general direction of Luna's face before it withdrew. _"I'm sure your fiance or whatever won't care, so relaaax."_  
  
_"Noctis?"_  Luna said, her eyes focused toward the camera again. _"I would rather not 'let loose' while speaking with you."_  
  
"I don't mind," Noctis replied with a small smile. "Could be fun."  
  
_"Told ya so."_  
  
"Oooh, Lady Lunafreya, I didn't know you partied!" Prompto exclaimed, leaning even more over Noctis's shoulder. It was nice.  
  
Luna nodded with a giggle and then sat the phone down so it faced the ceiling. Another woman was in the top part of the frame now, just barely, the tattoos on her forearms the only things within focus, while her head was tilted off to where Luna walked off to, her face obscured by the angle. No one else was in frame, so he supposed she was leaning on the table with her hands while everyone else sat down or got drinks.  
  
It was strange seeing the Glaives like this, in such a casual setting, but something was still tense, and it wasn't just the one who drank too much. It was the silence as the tinkling of liquid hit glasses, how the tattooed Glaive leaning over the table didn't so much as move, and how another Glaive just out of frame cleared his throat and made sounds as if he were shifting in his seat.   
  
"Oh, this should be good," Gladio spoke up suddenly, then he made a small noise in his throat. "Hey, Iggy, you okay?"  
  
Oh, right, Ignis hadn't said a word this entire conversation. Noctis looked over to him, and Prompto's head shifted on his shoulder, almost nuzzling into his neck. Ignis stared at Noctis's phone screen, unmoving, the shadows cast by the flickering campfire occasionally revealing that his jaw was very taut.  
  
It wasn't the expression he held when they ran into that chancellor guy, but it was definitely close.  
  
"Specs?" Noctis spoke up, lowering his phone just so.  
  
"Hm?" Ignis responded finally, setting his gaze on Noctis now. "Apologies, did you say something?"  
  
"Yeah, we were making sure you were still conscious," Gladio quipped, gaining a chuckle from Prompto.  
  
"Yes, well, I was just deep in thought, that's all."  
  
None of them got a chance to question Ignis further, for Luna returned to the phone then, shot in hand and cheerful chatter all around her.  
  
The two of them, plus his friends and the Glaives, talked and joked and laughed all through their meal of grilled trevally, right up until the battery in Noctis's phone was finally spent. They retired to the tent afterwards, his phone on the portable charger, and his mind more at ease than it had been in what had to be almost a week now. So much so, that he didn't pull away when Prompto's arms found their way around him before he drifted off; instead, he welcomed them, and settled down to sleep.  
  
He'd all but forgotten the tension he sensed on the other side of the screen.

* * *

The next morning, Noct pulled himself out of the tent, blinking at the dawn sunlight streaming down over the haven. He groaned, leaning back to stretch his shoulders and his neck, being mindful of his back. Sleeping on those mats couldn't be good for it, but at least it wasn't sore. Not like usual.  
  
He fluttered his eyes open fully, staring over at the light of the sun coming over the rock formations around the haven, not quite high enough for him to see the actual star yet.  
  
"Heyaz," Prompto said, waving from a short distance away.  
  
"Hey," he replied with a similar wave. "We ready to go?"  
  
"Just about," Ignis replied from the edge of the haven. "Gladio just needs to take down the tent, and now he can."  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that."  
  
"Don't be, you were sleeping so peacefully none of us wished to wake you."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
He blinked again, shaking the sleep off of his face. He thought back, searching for a memory, one that didn't seem to exist, not this time.  
  
He didn't have a nightmare last night.  
  
He chuckled and smiled lightly, catching Prompto's own smile out of the corner of his eye. It didn't seem fake this time.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I was," he confirmed, stretching above his head again. "Let's go get that rock and get this over with."  
  
With the camping gear now safely in the car, they jogged down to the location on the map, guided mostly by Ignis. Noct looked around the general area at road level, but found no mineral deposits, or anything that would indicate there'd be rough gemstones here.  
  
"You sure this is the spot?" Prompto asked, gaining a small noise from Ignis.  
  
"It's the indicated place," Ignis replied.  
  
"Let's keep looking around," Gladio suggested, and he pointed at a natural bridge over the road. "It could be up there."  
  
"What are we waiting for, then," Noctis said rhetorically, already jogging ahead to the earthen embankment leading up to the bridge.  
  
The bridge itself was fairly narrow, though not dangerously so, and they made it across without much incident. A small tunnel in the rock followed, and, once inside, Prompto grabbed Noct's arm, pulling him to the side. His heart fluttered in his chest at the contact, and, on instinct, he turned his face to Prompto's.  
  
"Hey, check it out," Prompto said, pointing to the rock wall. "You think it's in this stuff?"  
  
"Not sure," Noct admitted, leaning in close to the rock and away from Prompto's face. "Looks like gold, but... dust. Nothing big enough to be a gemstone though."  
  
"I'll gather some of it anyway," Prompto replied, placing some of the dust in a bag. "Cindy said something about being able to use stuff like this for the car."  
  
Cindy again. However, the annoying dreamy tone he'd had the morning of their photo attempt was gone; he sounded all business, and Noctis found himself smiling.  
  
"Let's move on, then," Gladio said from nearby, waving them on as he moved forward. "There's a clearing up ahead, so--"  
  
He stopped dead, and Noctis ran right into him, staggering back from the impact. Noct shook his head, opening his mouth to protest, but Prompto protested instead.  
  
"OH. EM. GEE." His voice was a little too loud, and Ignis was shushing him.  
  
Noctis looked up and around Gladio and gasped, taking another step back. Not more than 30 meters from the exit of the small tunnel sat a massive bird, nothing like he'd ever seen before, except for perhaps flying over Hammerhead; he couldn't remember.   
  
"We're supposed to get near that thing?!" Prompto continued from behind him, his whispers panicked and shaky.  
  
"Pipe down before you wake it up," Gladio whispered in reply, his arm out behind him, in front of Noctis. "Just take it slow and easy, and stay low, alright?"  
  
Noctis nodded and stepped around him, crouching down, not looking back to see if the others followed him. He took a wide path, eyes on the giant sleeping bird, pausing each time its breathing changed, waiting until it returned to normal. Like trying to sneak past the guards at the Citadel when he was a child, only instead of being scolded if he was caught, he'd most likely _die_.  
  
He managed to round its front, stealing a small glance behind him as he did. Gladio was at his back, with Ignis and Prompto more toward the rear, in perfect formation. Good.  
  
He turned back to the task at hand and brought in a sharp breath. Up ahead was a rocky formation in a small embankment, with the same faded and dull colors as the rock Dino had showed them, but red instead of green. And wrapping partway around it was the bird's (lizard's) very long and very dangerous-looking tail.  
  
Great.  
  
He steeled himself and continued forward, just as slow, just as cautious, listening as best he could to the bird's breathing beside him. He made it to the formation and reached forward without thinking, grasping at loose rock. He pulled back a handful of pebbles and rocks, one of which was definitely what they were looking for. He dumped the junk rock on the ground and kept the gem, attuning it into the armiger so he wouldn't accidentally drop it on their way to the car.   
  
He turned and nodded to Gladio, and they continued back the way they came, snaking around in their formation, with Prompto the farthest away from danger. As they neared the edge of the ledge again, inches from a nasty fall, he briefly contemplated warping to the other side, so he wouldn't have to make the other half of the journey around this huge murder-bird.   
  
But that would mean leaving the others behind, and that was just a terrible idea. And watching Prompto get eaten by a giant vulture while he was too far away to help was not something he wanted to do today. Or ever, for that matter.  
  
Lost in his thoughts, his boot hit some loose rock that littered the ground and he stumbled, letting out a soft cry. He caught himself on his hands, and, as he landed, the steady breathing from the bird halted. He looked up, slowly, and the bird opened its eyes.  
  
"Get down!" Gladio shouted from behind him, and he obeyed only because he was already kind of on the ground.  
  
The bird rose up and spread its _really_  large wingspan. Prompto made a small squeaky noise from behind him, and he moved to warp back there, to shield him somehow. With what? Maybe Gladio's shield. He'd think of it when he got there.  
  
He stole a look at the bird's face first, however, it wasn't looking down or at them at all, and, with a hurricane-force beating of wings on dust, it lifted off and over them. The wind passed over and Noctis stood, turning just in time for it to fly beyond the rock formations and disappear beyond the horizon.  
  
"Off it goes," Ignis said, sounding almost relieved.  
  
"We made it out alive," Noctis breathed.  
  
"BARELY!" Prompto spoke up, though his voice didn't sound as scared as expected. "I seriously thought we were at journey's end!"  
  
"But we made it," Gladio said, a smile evident in his voice. "That feat was fit for a king."  
  
Noctis felt the heat rise in his cheeks and he turned slightly to Gladio, seeing him stare off into the distance where the bird disappeared. He looked almost... proud.  
  
"Indeed," Ignis said. "Let's deliver this to Dino and complete our mission."  
  
Prompto made a noise of victory, singing some fanfare he knew from a video game they'd played years ago. Noctis smiled and turned forward again, leading them back to the car.  


* * *

They'd made it back to Galdin Quay. They'd made it halfway across the wooden pedestrian bridge. But then Noctis saw the cat.  
  
He was small, short-haired, with faded point markings; couldn't be more than a year old. And he was also so _cute_. Noctis just couldn't resist, and he knelt down by him, greeted by a tiny _brrp_  noise.  
  
"Hey, buddy," he cooed, gaining the cat's attention. "What's up? Taking a little stroll?"  
  
Not sure why he asked that; the cat had clearly been sleeping.  
  
"How come you're all alone? You must be hungry."  
  
The cat meowed back, almost demanding, and Noct chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Hold on a sec, I'll find you something."  
  
"What about that leftover fish from your haul yesterday afternoon?" Ignis suggested.  
  
"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea."  
  
He had to wrench the cooler back out of the armiger (it was always harder with non-metal objects) but he managed to get the spare fish out on the wooden walkway, and sat it in front of the cat. The cat sniffed at it, then looked up at Noctis expectantly.  
  
"What?" he sighed, but then it dawned on him. "Oh, you only like _cooked_  fish. Got it."  
  
"Maybe the lady at the Mother of Pearl could cook it for him?" Prompto suggested.  
  
"We can try," Gladio replied. "Unless Iggy wants to give it a shot."  
  
"I'd rather not," Ignis said. "I don't want to accidentally use anything that may make the creature ill."  
  
"Mother of Pearl it is, then," Noctis confirmed.  
  
They made their way to Coctura, who greeted them as a typical restaurateur would.   
  
"Hey," Noct began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you think you could cook a fish for me? One I caught myself?"  
  
"Not the first time I've heard that pick-up line," Coctura replied with a smile.  
  
"What? No, I-- there's this cat over there, on the walkway."  
  
"I'm only teasing." She laughed. "I have a feeling i know the feline you've got in mind. You have the fish with you?"  
  
"Yeah, right here."  
  
Noct handed over the fish, still cold from the cooler.  
  
"Great! I'll start on it right away."  
  
Noctis stood off to the side with the others as she worked. Ignis was watching intently, hand on his chin, probably taking mental notes of spices and oils, jotting down notes in that black notebook every so often. Prompto bumped shoulders with him and he turned to him, meeting bright eyes.  
  
"Just can't let someone go hungry, can you?" Prompto said, uncharacteristically quiet.  
  
"It's not... like that," he replied reluctantly, leaning into the shoulder that bumped into him. "He just made a noise that I couldn't resist, that's all."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Prompto replied with a laugh, also leaning into him. "Hard to resist something so cute."  
  
Noctis blinked, thinking for a moment that he caught a different tone in Prompto's voice. Something he hadn't heard in what must have been a week now.  
  
But he didn't have time to analyze it.  
  
"It's ready!" Coctura announced, placing a small plate on the counter, full of something that looked like chopped fish. "Be mindful, though, cats can be clingy."  
  
"Don't I know it," Prompto said from behind Noct as him approached the counter.  
  
"Thanks," Noctis said, taking the plate. "We'll pay you back somehow."  
  
"Don't mention it," she replied. "Just, if you're ever in the area, stop by and have some lunch, or take on one of our bounty hunts. We could really use the help."  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
They took the plate back to the cat, who ate it happily, purring so loudly Noctis thought he might explode. This cat was definitely spoiled, probably mooching off of any poor sap who came by, just like him.   
  
Not like he was complaining.  
  
Prompto approached and knocked shoulders with him again, pulling a surprised laugh from his throat.  
  
"Awww," Prompto cooed, looking down at the cat as he ate. "I think he likes you~!"  
  
"You think so?" Noct asked, reaching over to playfully ruffle some blond locks.  
  
"He-EY!" Prompto protested, pulling back with his hands shielding his head. "Watch the hair, dude!" He was smiling.  
  
"Sorry," Noctis laughed, reaching out for his hair again.  
  
"No you're nOT!" Prompto laughed despite his protests and retreated down the walkway, still shielding his hair.  
  
Noctis followed after him, still laughing, and gave him a gentle shove as he caught up. Prompto responded by throwing his uninjured arm over his shoulders, laughter ringing in his ear as the warm comfort he'd fallen asleep to returned.

* * *

"Here's your thing," Noctis said as he handed the rough gem over to Dino.  
  
Dino looked it over, holding it up to the light between a finger and his thumb, studying it for a moment before he closed his hand around it.   
  
"Nice work, kid!" he said, placing the gem inside his jacket with whatever else he kept in there (just how many pockets did he have?). "Sorry for giving you such a hard time, I just had to get my hands on this, even if it meant blackmail. You understand, don't ya?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure," Noctis replied, giving a sideways glance to Prompto standing beside him. "If it's that important, and it _was_  pretty dangerous."  
  
"Knew you'd get it. See, I'm a reporter by day, and an amateur jeweler by night." He tapped his jacket over where he'd placed the gemstone inside. "And this elusive little beauty's gonna become a masterpiece. And, to make it up to you, I'll share a little scoop."  
  
"I thought our reward was passage to Altissia," Ignis said from Noctis's other side, his arms crossed, eyes locked onto Dino.  
  
"It was, but I'm also a generous kind of guy, yknow? You guys see that guy wandering around here yesterday? The one in the weird black clothes?"  
  
"That could've been any of us," Gladio quipped, and Noctis let out a breathy laugh.  
  
"Nah, older guy, was tossing around these to people." Dino reached into _another_  pocket inside his jacket and opened his hand as he pulled it out, revealing a coin.  
  
"You're speaking of the Chancellor of Niflheim?" Ignis asked in reply.  
  
"I dunno about that, never met the guy in person."  
  
"You have ties to the Empire, and yet you've never seen Chancellor Izunia?"  
  
"Can't say I have. But you're connected to royalty here in Lucis, so you're supposed to know these things? Am I right, or am I right?"  
  
"You _are_  correct." Ignis pushed his glasses up his nose. "I suppose nobility connections do play a part in such knowledge."  
  
"Cool, then I'll take your word for it, scoop for scoop." He held the coin up toward Noctis and motioned toward it. "These special coins here commemorate the Oracle's ascension."  
  
"You mean Lady Lunafreya?" Prompto asked.  
  
"This one? Yeah, I believe so." He closed his hand around it and put it back into his jacket. "That guy was tossing them out to everyone, figured he must've picked them up back in Niflheim. Based on what you've told me, my hunch was right."  
  
"So what about the ferry?" Gladio asked, stepping forward around Prompto.  
  
"Well, as promised, I already started on securing your ferry tickets, just after you left to pick up my gemstone."  
  
"That was quick."  
  
"Told ya, I'm a man of integrity, and I had faith in you. The ship won't be here till tomorrow, though, so you'll have some time to relax for the rest of the afternoon. And, as promised, I won't rat you out to anyone here, so have a good time, get a massage, yeah?"  
  
"Sounds good to me!" Prompto announced, stepping back and clapping Noctis on his arm.  
  
"It's around noon, so we should probably get something to eat before we book a place, don't you think?" Gladio asked, his eyes on Noctis.  
  
"Makes sense to me," Noctis replied, turning his attention back onto Dino. "And thanks, by the way."  
  
"No problem, see ya tomorrow," Dino waved, but then stopped, as if he'd remembered something. "Oh, and, just so you don't think I'm full of it, here's a freebie from me."   
  
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a bracelet, adorned with the same type of red gem they'd picked up near Vannaugh Haven, but polished and shining in the midday sun. He handed it to Noctis, and Noctis took it, turning it over in his hand before attuning it into the armiger.  
  
"Uh, thanks," Noct said, feeling a bit confused.  
  
"No problem, see it as a free sample of what I offer. Be sure to come back if you wanna buy more!"  
  
"Will do."  
  
They walked away, heading up the steps toward the Mother of Pearl. Noctis's stomach rumbled suddenly and Prompto laughed, and he followed with a chuckle of his own.  
  
"Guess we shouldn't have skipped breakfast," Prompto laughed.  
  
"Guess not," Noctis replied.  
  
"You think Cindy likes jewelry like that?"  
  
Noctis's heart dropped out of his chest.  
  
"...why do you ask?"  
  
"Dunno, was just wondering if you think it's her thing, when she's not working."  
  
"Is she ever not working?" Gladio asked from behind them.  
  
"Haha, good one, big guy!" Prompto laughed.  
  
Noctis bit his lip and sat down at one of the stools, the chatter around him dimming down to a low roar, to the point that he couldn't tell who was talking to whom anymore. He just stared at the espresso maker behind the counter, one that seemed to have more usage than one in such a warm climate would have. He shook his head once, then twice, then leaned on his hand, trying to rid himself of whatever this nauseating feeling was, the one that tugged at his stomach and his heart, and the one that made it difficult to breathe.  
  
It was as if, at the mere mention of Cindy, his entire world had crumbled. And the visions of the all-wrong Prompto creeped their way into his mind again, obscuring his actual view of the espresso maker. The devilish smile, the revolver slung over his shoulder, and echoes of cruel words passed through the static that now covered his ears.  
  
Something touched his shoulder and he jumped, his vision clearing just enough to see Ignis staring at him, hand raised, that same worried expression from the day prior at the pier, as well as at the haven, showing transparent through his green eyes.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ignis asked, his hand moving to rest on Noctis's forearm.  
  
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he managed to mumble, pulling his arm away from Ignis's touch.  
  
"Are you sure? You're not eating."  
  
Noctis looked down and, indeed, there was a plate in front of him, with a stewed fish on top, covered in some kind of red sauce.   
  
"Not hungry," he mumbled out, leaning on his hand again.  
  
"You've not eaten all day."  
  
"Just don't feel like it."  
  
"At least try to eat some of it. I'll not have you collapsing from low blood sugar, Noct."  
  
Noctis sighed and picked up his fork, poking at the edge of the fish, where the meat fell off in a crumble, steam coming out from the hole the piece left behind. He picked it up and chewed, holding back the nausea as best he could. He swallowed, but it was laborious, as if something had closed off his throat all the way down to his stomach.  
  
He poked at the fish again, then swirled the fork's tines around in the sauce a bit. His eyes slid closed, and the area suddenly felt very cold, very still, not like the shore at all, but like he were in an enclosed space, like a small room. The hair rose on the back of his neck, probably from the cold, and he shivered.  
  
_"Did you really think you were safe?"_  a voice whispered near his ear, just as a hand landed on the back of his neck.  
  
He yelped and stumbled backward, almost tripping over the edge of the stool. He rubbed at his neck, finding nothing there, turned and found no one behind him, panic rising in his chest. His mind grasped wildly, trying to place the voice, searching desperately for a memory that didn't exist.  
  
"Hey, you okay?" Gladio said from the table, and Noctis looked up to see him standing, hands raised, already halfway toward him.  
  
"I-I..."   
  
He surveyed the others, finding both Ignis and Prompto staring at him, with mirrored images of worry on their faces. Prompto's mouth was moving, as if he was trying to say something, but kept averting his eyes away each time he tried.  
  
"Noct?" Gladio said, reaching him. "You look like you just saw a ghost."  
  
"I thought I felt something touch my neck," he admitted, pulling his hand away.  
  
Gladio reached around him and felt around his neck, sweeping his fingers over the muscles right up into his hairline.  
  
"You're sweating a little bit, you think that was it?"  
  
"I dunno, maybe."  
  
"Probably just jumpy from lack of food. You should eat a bit faster."  
  
"Y-Yeah, okay."  
  
"...Great, I'm sounding like Iggy."  
  
"You're fine."  
  
He returned to his seat, and Gladio to his, and Noctis tried his best to eat, but still only got halfway through the fish before his stomach gave up and threatened to expel everything inside. He pushed the plate away and leaned his head down on crossed arms. He focused on his breathing, if that would somehow quiet the uncomfortable churning in his gut, hoping that maybe he could just fall asleep right here.  
  
Someone shook his shoulder and he looked up, seeing Ignis staring at him with that same worried look again.  
  
"We've nothing else to do today," he said quietly, "so if you'd like to retire to a room here, you can."  
  
"Yeah, that'd be great," he breathed with a nod.  
  
Ignis said something and Gladio replied, but Noct didn't catch it. He was lifted off the stool and half-carried toward the lodgings just to the left of the restaurant, and, once inside, he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

It'd been a few hours, judging by the orange cast over the water and Angelgard outside the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hotel room. Noctis leaned over the side of the chair, staring out past the balcony, focusing on the winged island out beyond. He sighed, running his fingers back through his bangs, groggy from his nap.   
  
The room was empty, save for himself, and gathering up the energy to go look for the others was just too much to deal with right now. Plus, the view out of the large windows was nice, the sunset on the calm water so peaceful to watch.  
  
The door creaked suddenly and he whipped his head around, seeing Ignis slip through the door.   
  
"Ah, you're up," Ignis said, adjusting his glasses. "Did you have a good nap?"  
  
"Kind of," Noctis admitted, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Still feel just as tired as I did before."  
  
"Nightmares?"  
  
"Not this time."  
  
"What of last night?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"That's a good sign, then."  
  
"I suppose."  
  
Ignis pulled one of the other chairs over beside Noct's, the legs dragging and catching on the carpet in an irregular pattern. Once it was in place, Ignis sat down in it, crossing his legs and setting his eyes on him again. There was that look again, and Noct pulled his own eyes away.  
  
"What's that look for?" Noct asked, twisting his mouth into a pout.  
  
"Is this about Prompto?" Ignis asked.  
  
"Just jumping right to the chase, huh?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"I'm fine, Ignis, it's just..."  
  
"It's just that you're not actually fine."  
  
Noctis sighed, leaning his forehead into his knees.  
  
"I'm fine until he starts talking about Cindy, and then I... It's like getting punched in the chest."  
  
"That's fair." Ignis's hand found his shoulder and began that same massaging motion as before, and Noctis's muscles slowly went slack under his fingers. "But you must understand... he's coping as best as he can."  
  
"Coping for what?"  
  
"The wedding, Noct."  
  
"He seemed pretty fine with it when we broke up."  
  
The hand stopped moving.  
  
"How... do you mean?" Ignis sounded reluctant, fearful, even, and Noctis looked up to meet his confused expression.  
  
"He told me he knew it was coming, so it's like... he was just biding his time until it happened."  
  
"You think he was just playing with you?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean, no, I mean..." He pulled his knees somehow closer. "I don't know."  
  
"If that were true, I wouldn't have supported your relationship."  
  
"But what if he was just really good at hiding it?"  
  
"I don't think that's the case."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because he's not doing a good job of hiding it now."  
  
"Hiding what?"  
  
That hand squeezed his shoulder.  
  
"He's in pain, Noct," Ignis said softly, "just as you are."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Gladio brought it to my attention. And we both are certain he's latched onto Cindy in some effort to move on."  
  
So even Ignis thought that's what it was.   
  
And yet his stupid brain wouldn't let go of the words of the Prompto from his nightmares, which echoed the words the real Prompto spoke the night they broke up.  
  
But couldn't that have just been him trying to make the situation not so bad? To brighten things up, like usual?  
  
The not-right Prompto in his head told him it wasn't.  
  
"You should speak with him," Ignis said, his hand going back to massage his neck. "I saw him leave your apartment the day it happened, and I can assure you he wasn't fine with anything at that moment."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
"Okay, I can try." He looked out the window, leaning his cheek on his knees. "Tomorrow, though. I'm too drained to have any kind of serious talk."  
  
"I know." He removed his hand. "When the others return, I'll order take-out from the Mother of Pearl, if that's alright."  
  
"Yeah, it's fine."  
  
"The rest of your lunch is in the mini fridge as well."  
  
"Think it'll be ok cold?"  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"I could try to eat it, I think I'm hungry again."  
  
"Splendid. I'll fetch it for you."  
  
Noct allowed a small smile to touch his face.  
  
"Thanks, Specs."

* * *

Gladio leaned back, hands on his head, taking in deep breaths as he came down from his adrenaline high, muscles aching pleasantly from the run.   
  
Prompto did the same beside him, though he plopped down onto the sand shortly after catching his breath.  
  
"Your muscles'll tighten up if you don't cool down," Gladio warned, stretching his arms high over his head.  
  
"I'll be fine," Prompto replied, his eyes on the water.  
  
Gladio sighed, surrendering and sitting down beside him, knees bent with his arms draped over them. He needed to say something, what with Prompto's repetitive and uncharacteristic moping.  
  
"Your choice if you wanna be all bent out of shape in front of Cindy," he teased, giving his arm a bump with his elbow.  
  
"Uh huh, yeah," Prompto replied absently, leaning down onto his own knees.  
  
Gladio narrowed his eyes briefly, taking in the "yeah sure I'm totally listening" body language for a moment. Clearly, moving onto a new crush wasn't working, and might've made things worse for it.  
  
It was about time to stop pretending and start doing something about it.  
  
"So you're still hung up over Noct," he pointed out as casually as he could.  
  
"What?! No I'm not!"   
  
"You sure? Because you were cuddling him pretty hard last night."  
  
"The tent's small, and it was cold."  
  
"Prompto..."  
  
Prompto let out a small sigh and turned to him finally, his eyes glistening.  
  
"Look, big guy, can we not talk about this right now?"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I mean, I just want to pretend he doesn't hate me."  
  
"What?!" Gladio choked on nothing, sitting up fully with a hand braced on his thigh. "Noct doesn't hate you."  
  
"You don't have to lie to me, I'm not stupid."  
  
"Didn't say you were."  
  
"You've seen how he's been acting around me."  
  
Of all the things.  
  
"He's..." Gladio ran a hand back through his hair, fixing the stray strands worked loose by the sea wind. "He's stressed. We all are. You know how he gets."  
  
"But not with me. It's never happened before."  
  
"Then talk to him."  
  
Prompto gazed up at him, confusion swimming in his eyes.  
  
"I... don't think he wants to."  
  
"Don't know unless you try."  
  
"But what if he shuts me out, or cries, or--"  
  
"Don't worry so much about the what ifs, just try it." He thought for a moment, reconsidering his words. "Well, maybe try it tomorrow. He might not be in the mood today."  
  
"I'll try on the ferry, I guess."  
  
"There ya go. It'll be fine, you know how he is."  
  
"Yeah. I guess I was being kind of stupid."  
  
"Seems that way." He smirked as Prompto glared at him, offended. "I'm kidding. It's just easier to see from the outside that you were being kind of dumb about it. Made perfect sense to you, I bet."  
  
"Not anymore."  
  
"Then that's good."  
  
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
Prompto hopped to his feet, stretching his arms up above his head with a large yawn.   
  
"Up for another race?" Gladio asked, smirk still tugging at his mouth.  
  
"Are you trying to kill me?" Prompto whined, his characteristic over-dramatics back into his tone, like normal.  
  
"Just a little," he laughed in reply, standing and dusting himself off. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."  
  
"Dude, that's so cheesy."  
  
"It's true, though. Getting the piss scared out of you from that bird earlier made you a little braver, right?"  
  
"No, it just made me know not to walk so close to giant hurricane birds!"  
  
Gladio laughed again, clapping a hand on his back. At least Sunshine was back to normal.  
  
"Alright, it's getting too dark for another run, anyway." He looked up at the darkening sky, where in an hour it would be twilight. "Need to rest up for our trip, anyway."  
  
"Yay!" Prompto grinned and jogged ahead, but looked back briefly. "Oh, and thanks, for what you said."  
  
"No problem, just make sure you go through with it."  
  
"Will do!"  
  
They headed back to the room, but not before Gladio stole a look back at the walkway leading to the parking lot. His instincts kicked in, and an overwhelming sense of unease fell over him, as if he was forgetting something, or had dropped something, or maybe lost something somewhere on the walk to the room. Like something had fallen out of place.  
  
His necklace felt heavier on his chest, and he reached up to run his fingers over the knotted cross. It was cold.  
  
"Hey, big guy, you coming?"  
  
He dropped his hand away and turned toward Prompto, who had the door propped open with his leg, staring at him with expectation. He could see Ignis and Noctis in chairs behind Prompto's head. He let out a relieved sigh.  
  
Everything was fine, everything was where it should be.

* * *

Noctis settled into bed beside Prompto, ignoring the light from his phone across the bed. The curtains were all closed except for the one next to the bed, where he could see Angelgard glowing in the moonlight. Fatigue came over him slowly as he sank into the pillow, sleep tugging at him.  
  
Then, with a single blink, he was in the Citadel.  
  
He knew this hallway: it was where they kept the Crystal, in the vault behind him. He was staring down the hallway leading to it, and he could sense the cold metal of the vault at his back.  
  
It was as if he was guarding it.  
  
He sensed movement in his peripheral and he turned, and he ducked before his mind registered what he'd turned toward. A wide and translucent blue barrier went up around him, and a weapon materialized in his hand without him summoning it.  
  
His body moved then on its own, swiping out with a weapon toward a dark shape to his right. Muffled voices surrounded him, as if he were deep underwater and someone was shouting at him. He only caught a few spare syllables here and there as he struck outward with a lance.  
  
_"...aft... stal...!"_  
  
_"We... by...! La... only... work...!"_  
  
_"...hold... plan... fine!"_  
  
_"...need... numb... lone!"_  
  
_"No...!"_  
  
But then one word rang out clear.  
  
_"GO!"_  
  
The room spun, as if he'd fallen through the floor. He landed on his feet, in another part of the Citadel. It was large, and open, maybe one of the audience rooms, but he couldn't turn his head to look around to confirm it.  
  
Instead, he got a face full of armor as a tall figure brought down a sword onto him. With a scream of metal, it bounced off a blue barrier. His own hand stretched out in front of himself, as if _he_  were the one putting up the barrier.  
  
_"...must... now!"_  
  
_I'm not leaving you!_  
  
The words screamed in his head, much clearer than any others. Whether they were his own thoughts or if he actually heard them, he couldn't be certain.  
  
But they were filled with desperation nonetheless.  
  
The sword came down again and he swung his arm up in an unfamiliar arc, a shuriken glittering to life in his hand. The armored one's sword glanced off one of the shuriken's curved sides, and Noct jumped and spun in midair, bringing the weapon down in a screech of metal on metal. It spun easily in his hand, sending off sparks as it drove his opponent backward.  
  
_I won't let you!_  
  
His body felt so light. And his back was so flexible, like he'd never known, allowing him to bend and evade so easily. It was as if his childhood accident never happened, as he twisted around, using the shuriken's momentum to land easily before his opponent.  
  
He blocked another swing, using the large sword's momentum to draw the armored person down by the sword, so he was vulnerable.  
  
_This ends here!_  
  
He twirled, balanced on one toe, a dagger in his free hand as he brought it around. The shuriken in his other hand slid down and off the greatsword, and he lost his balance.   
  
He had been turning on his bad leg.   
  
The room spun again, but not as if the floor fell out from under him; instead after-images of figures and faces he didn't recognize flashed in overlapping patterns in front of him. He only came back to himself when he hit the ground, tumbling in a roll backward. He slid to a stop behind a pair of legs and a trail of red, obscured by a cape and the blur that had overtaken his vision.  
  
A voice echoed, but he only heard the sound, not the words or even the voice's identity.  
  
_Not now._  
  
His vision greyed out as a searing hot pain radiated through his abdomen, under his hand clutching at it. He managed to sit up, his brain swimming and screaming, as the pain grew ever stronger.  
  
And then it was gone. And so was the voice screaming in his head.  
  
He caught sight of movement, his vision still blurred. A voice echoed around him and he looked toward it, but couldn't focus on where it was coming from, or who was speaking.   
  
Then, without prompting it, he warped.  
  
When he landed, he wasn't in the Citadel anymore. It was an apartment, and he was placing a bundle of envelopes in a small leather bag at a wooden table. The building tremored and he took a quick look out of the window just as flames billowed outward and across, obscuring the view of the nighttime city, and the other fires within.  
  
_Time to go._  
  
He threw on his jacket and strapped on the leather bag/holster/thing around his leg. He ran for the window, arms crossed in front of his face. He crashed through it, blue barrier surrounding him, and warped again.  
  
Upon landing, he was riding a motorbike, weaving between wrecked cars and other debris, the engine roaring and whining from overexertion. He swerved suddenly, as something collapsed and fell beside him, as if his overdriven mind noticed it before he did.  
  
He cocked the bike to one side and planted a foot on the asphalt, sliding and screeching to a stop. He glanced up toward the direction of the collapse, as one of the large statues built into facades around the city came to life and stood tall in the smoke and lights of airships.  
  
_The Old Wall._  
  
With a nod, he rolled the bike forward in an arc and resumed his course, toward the edge of the city, toward the gate. Bullets whizzed past his head and time lagged for a moment. Something glowed red off to his right and he swung his arm outward.  
  
In a flash of blue and white, he took down the MT that fired on him, its crimson eyes going dark.  
  
He looked down for a moment at his outstretched arm, but it wasn't his own arm; he didn't have any tattoos, especially not a sleeve tattoo of a dragon. And the proportions were all wrong, as were the gloves that weren't his, and hands that weren't his either.

_I'm sorry._  
  
Noctis sat up with a gasp, his lungs bringing in deeper and deeper breaths. He stared down at his hands, his arms, tattoo-free and definitely his own. His eyes darted around the room faster than his mind could follow, the sights registering moments after he'd already looked to the next place.  
  
The beds, the large window, the rising sun, and Angelgard.  
  
"Noct?"  
  
He glanced down and to his left, meeting Prompto's eyes in the early dawn light. He took in a breath, and didn't respond.  
  
"Nightmares again?" Prompto whispered, just as a hand found his arm.  
  
"Yeah..." Noctis breathed. "A nightmare..."  


* * *

The constant _click click_ of Prompto going through the photos on his camera gave the only relief to the silence in the room as Noct stared out the window toward the balcony. Prompto was behind him, laying on his back on the bed, his camera probably raised up above his face. Gladio stood near the door somewhere, at least that's where he was when they'd all gotten up earlier, when Noct had noticed that Ignis wasn't around.  
  
It'd been about an hour since then. They probably had about an hour to spare before the ship from Altissia would arrive, according to the information Dino gave Ignis before he'd come back to the room to retire to bed.  
  
He'd only gone out to secure them breakfast, so what was taking so long?  
  
Noctis leaned back onto the bed, his head landing inches from Prompto, who let out a small yelp of surprise. A hand found his hair, and he looked up to see Prompto reaching out and petting his hair, his camera off to the side and his eyes locked onto him.   
  
"Hey, Noct," Prompto said. "...How are you?"  
  
"Fine," he replied flatly.  
  
"You're 'fine'? You sure?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Noctis let his eyes wander down Prompto's arm, the injured arm, where fresh and clean bandages shown bright white against his skin.  
  
"How's your arm?" he heard himself say, and Prompto stopped petting his hair for a brief moment.  
  
"Feels better," Prompto replied, resuming his stroking of hair. "Itches a little bit, though."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Not your fault."  
  
There was movement by the door, and Noctis leaned his head backward to look. Gladio was heading for the door, his hand on the handle.  
  
"I'm gonna go find Iggy," Gladio said, giving them a small wave. "Shouldn't be long--"  
  
The door pushed itself open, and Gladio backed up with a grunt, as Ignis walked through the door, silent, and his eyes went straight to Noct's. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth only hung open slightly.  
  
He had that look in his eyes again, but it had taken over his entire face.  
  
"What took so long?" Gladio asked.  
  
Ignis didn't reply, just steeled his jaw, not taking his eyes off of Noct, and it was super uncomfortable. Like he was trying to stare straight through him, not at him, and he wouldn't meet his gaze.  
  
Noctis sat up and stood from the bed, followed by Prompto.  
  
"What is it this time?" he asked, only getting an aversion of eyes as a reply.  
  
Ignis handed Gladio the newspaper he'd had in his hand, which Gladio lifted up to read.  
  
"It's in all the papers," Ignis said, almost a whisper.  
  
"What is?" Noctis asked, but still got silence in return.  
  
Prompto walked up to Gladio, and Noctis followed him, and ran right into his shoulder when he stopped dead. Prompto then turned to him, staring at him with those helpless eyes again, looking like he wanted to say something, just like Ignis, but no words came out.   
  
Noctis pushed past him and leaned over to the paper, and the headline stood out clearly at the top of the front page.  
  
**_INSOMNIA FALLS_**  
  
His throat closed, panic rising up so quickly that he forgot to exhale the gasp he swallowed. He took a step back, bumping into Prompto again, who now had a warm hand on his arm.  
  
It wasn't helping.  
  
"Ignis!" Noct bellowed, turning his gaze on him. "What the hell is this?!"  
  
"There was an attack," Ignis said, his voice coated in monotone. "The Imperial army has taken the Crown City."  
  
"How?!"  
  
"I don't know, but..." He didn't finish the sentence and sighed.  
  
"'As treaty room tempers flared,'" Gladio read, his voice tight, "'blasts lit the night sky. When the smoke about the Citadel had cleared, the king was found...'"  
  
He looked up from the paper and locked eyes with Noctis, who pulled in a breath; he didn't need to say it, the look in his eyes was enough.  
  
"'...dead.'" He said it anyway.  
  
The tension he'd sensed with the Glaives the night before hit him full force in the chest; that's what had them on edge, that's what had them so concerned. They sensed something was wrong, they knew something like this would happen. They must have been sheltering Luna, and made certain that _someone_  on the outside knew where she was, just in case something happened. That's how they operated, it's how they'd always operated, and he didn't think twice about it at the time.  
  
And as much as he wanted to deny it, as much as he wanted to believe it was all lies and propaganda, the concerns he'd overheard were those of seasoned soldiers, seasoned soldiers who knew the Empire better than anyone.  
  
"Why didn't they stop it?" he said, not noticing at first that he'd said it outloud.  
  
"I don't know," Ignis replied, pinching his nose. "You'd think they would have prepared."  
  
"What do you mean?" Gladio asked, lowering the paper.  
  
"The Glaive who gave me those photos of the Chancellor, they said something... curious."  
  
"Curious?"  
  
"They warned me of a possible attack. At the Citadel."  
  
Noct's heart plummeted into the abyss.  
  
"They knew about this?" Prompto asked.  
  
"Somehow, yes. I'm not sure how. We may never know how."  
  
"How come?" Gladio asked.  
  
"They swore they would protect the king with their life."  
  
Gladio didn't reply. Prompto made a noise in his throat and turned toward the window. Ignis sighed and adjusted his glasses. Noctis resigned himself to the chair, clasping his hands.  
  
"Is... is there any chance it's all a lie?" he found himself asking uselessly.  
  
"Every paper in the kingdom is the same," Ignis replied with melancholy.  
  
"It... just can't be. The treaty, the wedding, Altissia... it was all their idea."  
  
"That was their plan, however..." Ignis paused a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. "Altissia... was not."  
  
"What?!" His head shot up, eyes locked onto Ignis.  
  
"His Majesty sent you away, just in case something nefarious happened."  
  
"You knew about this?!"  
  
"I need you to calm down so I can explain."  
  
"I'm as calm as I'm gonna get!"  
  
"Noct, I didn't believe it, I thought he was being overly cautious. But then, when that Glaive said almost the same thing..." His voice trailed off with a sigh. "I thought it best not to worry you. I didn't think they'd try to take the city, only that they'd go after you."  
  
"But..."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Anything else we know? The Kingsglaive? Crownsguard?" His voice caught in his throat as the realization hit him. "Luna--?!"  
  
Before Ignis could reply, Noctis whipped out his phone, pulling up the call history. The blocked number was still at the top of his received calls, and he hit the dialpad, retrieving the number and dialing the callback code. He leapt to his feet and waited for it to ring, tapping the speakerphone icon.  
  
The call connected and he brought in a sharp breath as two abrupt tones beeped from the speaker.  
  
_"The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Please hang up and try your call again."_  
  
Nausea took him over, his stomach dropping out and into the abyss with his heart. He felt dizzy, as if he were falling, but only in his mind, spiraling down toward the endless darkness.  
  
"No," he breathed, collapsing onto the bed on his back. "Dammit."  
  
"That just means the phone is gone, right?" Prompto said. "Luna could still be okay, you think?"  
  
"We can only hope," Ignis replied, his voice low.  
  
"I'm still not keen on this whole story," Gladio spoke up, folding the paper in his hands. "I say we go see it with our own eyes and not trust newspaper reports or faceless strangers in alleyways."  
  
"So, that means we go back to Insomnia," Prompto suggested, no, almost demanded.  
  
"Might not be safe for us there," Ignis said.  
  
"Might not be safe for us here," Prompto retorted.   
  
Noct sat up, his hands in his lap, eyes on the floor. He couldn't breathe, everything felt so far away, and his skin _ached_. He rubbed at his arm, trying to create heat and relief with the friction; it didn't work.  
  
Footsteps approached and he looked up in time to see Prompto card his fingers through his hair, gently, bringing with it a familiarity and security. The sensation was just enough to keep him from falling into the abyss in his own mind. He let his eyes slide closed and focused only on Prompto's hand in his hair.  
  
But he still felt far too cold.  
  
"Turn back?" Gladio asked, sounding hesitant.  
  
Noctis opened his eyes, slowly, turning them up to look at Prompto, who gazed down on him with gentle eyes; there was a sadness there, somewhere, not well-hidden, but he was definitely trying. Just like Ignis had said.  
  
He sighed and looked away from Prompto toward Gladio.  
  
"...Yeah, let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/samr_garrett)?


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